Starting Yesterday
by envyofclouds
Summary: All her life, Sakura Haruno saw the quiet town of Konoha through a black and white perspective. That is until she met Naruto Uzumaki, a troubled runaway with a tragic past and dark secrets that could unravel the good life of Konoha. Suddenly black and white might just turn into grey after all. Dark AU.
1. Prologue

A/N: After about a year of thinking, being on writer's block for new chapters, and editing the old ones. .I have concluded that my original work sucked. It was cheesy, the plot was going nowhere, the characters were way too OOC, and I could no longer write anymore because I couldn't get into it. So now I am changing it . . . yes, this is still the same story except i doubt i will be keeping much of the scenes i have already written. This new plot and story is very different though but it still has the same theme as the old one. I am sorry if you were enjoying my original version and i do hope you will continue to read this story. I hope you like this more than the old work and just to let you know this is a Naru/Saku for the most part. I will add some one sided crushes or possible smaller feelings for others due to the fact that i just love writing dramatic teenage twists *wink* So do not confuse this as a Naru/Hina, Naru/Ino, Sasu/Saku, Naru/Sasu or anything other than that; there is side pairings though that will be hinted and exposed later on.

_**Warning: This story in the past has been confused with stealing ideas and plotlines from BornFromaNaruSakuLemon's "Cursed" and I will not deny that I have borrowed a few ideas from him and i still will but the idea is still technically my own thinking. Hard to believe right? Well that's the truth; this story though will be very different from his so no more comparing although I'm still keeping the same idea that I have always had! This story will contain language, violence, death, some sexual reference (nothing too detailed sorry if your into lemons) crude parts and in overall a dark themed mind. If you're not into that than this story is NOT for you so just saying I warned you**_

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

With further notice I now present to you my new version of "Starting Yesterday"

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><p>Prologue: Tales of another broken home<p>

**Starting Yesterday**

_Changing is inevitable._

_There is nothing one can do to change that fact. Eventually we will all change. Whether it's for good or bad. One will never know until it happens. Changing. He changed a lot, she thought. She smiled bitterly at that. His changing was not for the good. Sometimes people change, because something happens to them. The change can differ upon the event that took place. If it's a good and touching event the person will most likely become a nicer and more grateful person. That type of changing is what we see commonly. But the other kind is what we want to stay away from. When a memory is so awful and painful that it leaves a bad taste in your mouth that's when the person will be bitter and cold. At least that's what happened to him._

_She can't blame him for being like that. What happened to him was terrible. It shouldn't have happened to him. Not to anyone. He shouldn't have been an orphan. And what's worse he shouldn't have been adopted by those monsters who he once called his 'parents'. When he had been adopted and moved into the neighborhood; everyone was happy for him. He was a nice kid with loving parents and a good home. No one knew what really went on in his house. She didn't know what had happened. And she wished she didn't know now. Her eyes softened as she tried to hold in the tears that were threatening to escape. She blinked a few times before becoming distant again. Lost in the story that had been told to her just recently._

_Everyone changes. Just like everyone dies. Those two things can't be helped. She closes her eyes. Remembering his words of death and how he wished to die. Just to escape all the pain. To escape the lies and broken promises. The fake smiles and bittersweet memories. He tells her that he has tried it all. Alcohol, drugs, sex, cutting, anything to just relieve the sensations of guilt and grief for just a few moments. In the end, none of it works. He's left with these same thoughts and emotions day after day with no end. He's stuck forever alone in his past. She tells him that he's not alone and she promises she will always be there for him. He doesn't believe her at first, but when he does he cries and clings to her like a lost child who found his family again. She has never seen this side of him._

_She has never seen him cry._

_Promises. Those can change too. All his life people have been giving him empty promises so it's not surprising that he doesn't believe her at first. He had been promised a good home and what he got was a shitty one. He had been promised to be loved and cared for; they hated him. He had been promised forgiveness and redemption. And look where that left him. She hopes with all her heart that her promise will not change and will forever stay the same. For his sake at least._

_Emotions change too. Up until now he had always been so apathetic and cold. But now he was sad and bitter. His voice gave out the tone of a deprived boy just looking for love. When he cries, she doesn't know what to do. He stares at her sadly and looks so lonely that her heart breaks. She pulls him into her arms and he puts his head on her chest. His back shakes with nervousness and fear. She calmly strokes his back until he stops shaking. She shushes him and helps him calm down. In those moments both of them find peace. His broken heart and her big loving one clash together in what could be perfect harmony. He closes his eyes and wishes they could stay that way forever._

_But time is always changing. And not anything can remain the same no matter how much one wishes for it to. Time is a funny thing. We don't have enough of it yet we waste it so easily. In his sixteen years of life, time had been cruel and unjust to him. His whole life was something most people don't have a clue about. Nonetheless experienced it! Hell she hadn't! As time changed, he would learn to forgive some day she supposed. He would let go all his feelings of resentment and fear. Anxiety and sorrow. Bitterness and apathy. Eventually he would be healed and she would see him as a new man. That time may not come for a while but she would be damned if she didn't help him move on. She would give it her best to help him rewrite his life. And starting now it would begin. Gradually it would quicken, but as for now baby steps would be alright. He was after all starting yesterday. . . ._

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><p>-author's comments-<p>

I realize that the prologue was short and for that I apologize, but generally they're not meant to be very long. This is in a way a preview of what is to come and I hope you enjoyed it. It was a bit repetitive, but hell i was making a point that will make sense later on in the story. The characters aren't mentioned, because for those of you who have not read the story I do not want to spoil it. Although i think you already have a pretty strong feeling who it is *grin* I will be updating the chapter in either a week to three weeks from now. I cannot guarantee exactly when so please be patient! I promise it won't be over a month though. And as always leave a review for me so I can know what to improve and what you think. I do not mind constructive criticism but full out bashing and flames will do you no good so I strongly suggest don't do it. If you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all. Thanks for reading this and cya all in chapter one!

Review or comment :)

-envyofclouds-


	2. Chapter 1: Mornings

A/N: Well thanks for reading the prologue and thank you for those who reviewed, it makes me happy that you're enjoying this and I hope I can continue to please you with my story! Moving on here we go to chapter one finally

_**Warning: This fic is rated M for a reason there will be some hard language, violence/death, some sexual reference (it won't be detailed due to the fact that doing lemons is my weak side, sorry if you're into that) and in overall has some adult themes that aren't exactly MA, but still if you're not into any of what I just stated than this story is NOT for you. You had your warning! **_

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only this story

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><p>Chapter One: Mornings<p>

Starting Yesterday

Naruto Uzamaki was not your average kid. He may look like it on the outside, but on the inside he was a monster. Naruto had bright blonde spiky hair. The hair colour let alone didn't say "normal". Most people in Konoha certainly did not have his sunny blonde hair. His skin was tanned from the sun, even though he hadn't been in the sun for a while. Or at least not long enough for him to have been so tanned. Naruto had a fit body that exceeded most teenaged boys his age. Even if he didn't have very many muscles in particular. His eyes were an ocean blue that almost seemed like the ocean itself. But it wasn't like that anymore. Naruto could be described as a very attractive boy if it wasn't for his eyes. So cold and apathetic. They held the expression of death itself sometimes. That didn't stop girls from having crushes on him though. Despite the fact that he was classified as _"dangerous". _He held a mysterious aroma around himself that most girls just couldn't resist. _'Losers' _was the only thing Naruto would think of upon the subject. They didn't know him really. Only liked him for his physical appearance. But most girls at the facility were like that. He rolled his eyes with that.

Since he had been deemed as "dangerous" and "troublesome" he had been put into a juvenile metal rehabilitation facility where the worst minors of Konoha and some other districts wound up. The messed up psychos, the traumatized, the addicts, you name it and they were there. Naruto had been there since he was eight. Grown to an environment that just might have been worse than the streets or broken home he had come from. Here you learned to be tough. Only the strong willed could survive or you would end up as a drugged vegetable. Naruto would have none of that for himself. Personally, he didn't care if he stayed here for the rest of his days. There was no one to go to and nobody gave a rat's ass about him. Not when he was a monster in their eyes. He usually remained silent and emotion less around others. Giving off the vibe that he didn't want to be talked to. Most people respected his wishes and left him alone, but there would always be those annoying caretakers who just wouldn't shut up until he punched them unconscious. Naruto was known for being rather violent when he wished to be. Basically meaning when he was pissed off enough. They said he was scary and looked like he was ready to kill. As if he wanted to kill. Naruto wasn't bloodthirsty though unlike his neighbor next door Gaara. Gaara didn't want to kill him though. Which was quite surprising since the ruthless maniac wanted to kill everyone. It wasn't like he didn't want to kill him, but more like he couldn't . . . at least not yet. Gaara had once told him that they were alike. They both understood what it was like to feel unloved and hated by all around you. What Naruto didn't feel was the need to cause everyone pain by death for what had happened to him. Naruto had killed people in the past and he didn't regret it at all. There was no guilt or horrifying stress. He felt perfectly fine with the blood tinted hands of murder on his name. He shrugged. Some people were like that he guessed.

Naruto looked around his small cell and glanced at the even smaller window. There was a full moon out. Naruto thought distantly,_'Gaara must be feeling pretty restless right around now. . .' _ And just on cue did Naruto hear Gaara's blood filled screams of fury and felt the violent thuds coming across the opposite wall. Naruto wondered if Gaara was going to claw his way to his room and kill him. Naruto wasn't sure if that would be a good or bad thing. Death to say the least was something that passed his mind often. He wouldn't be lying if he said he had never thought of death or had attempted at suicide. It didn't matter if he died in his opinion. He had no family or friends. No one would miss him. Would it really be that bad to end his life? To rid the world of another person? Naruto shook his head. No, it wouldn't. Naruto closed his eyes and let his mind wander. He started to recall old memories. Remembering memories was something he thought about a lot too. He couldn't help it when he stayed in his room just about all day with little to no human contact. Sure, he had the "voice" in his head which actually turned out to be a demon. But that didn't even torment him or scare him at the least. The two dangerous souls ignored each other and lived in what could be perfect harmony.

Naruto shook his head. Recalling the face of a young girl. One that would haunt his dreams frequently and the words that had bound him to this eternal fate of never knowing if someone cared about him. The girl had short pink bubblegum hair with soft smooth looking pale creamy skin. Her hair had always been a mystery to him. He knew for a fact that her parents did not have pink hair so where did she get it from? Her eyes were sea foam green that sparkled like the stars in the sky and even to this day he thought of her as an angel. Naruto would wonder if she was still that beautiful. Or had her beauty increased? Naruto moved to his side as sleep overtook him. Replaying him the memory that he would never forget, but often wished he could.

_Naruto sat on the swing set from the tree by the school. He swung himself slowly and let his feet skim the ground. He looked at his lap sadly before glancing up at the children playing at the playground nearby. They had a left when he tried joining. At least they hadn't beaten him up like other times were the only positive remark he could think of. He sighed and looked at the pinkish orange sky. He noticed that the sun was setting earlier than usual. A flock of birds flew by and right behind it was a stray bird struggling to catch up. Naruto thought that the bird was like him. Alone and hated. Left alone with nothing but his bitter thoughts. _

_Naruto glanced at the playground again and saw that the kids were leaving with their parents. He softened his eyes. His parents would never come and get him just to make sure he was safe. They didn't care about him enough to do that . . . that is if they even cared about him. Some of the adults caught Naruto's gaze and stiffened before they quickly glared at him. They would say something to their children and then hurry away back home. Probably to get away from him. Naruto didn't get why everyone hated him so much and why he was called a monster. He had never done anything to them or anyone else in his life! So than why? Why was he treated this way by everyone? Was he really that unlikeable? Naruto looked up at the sky hopefully. The stray bird was chirping loudly now. As if asking the others to slow down. The flock continued onward. Naruto looked down and felt his eyes water. The tears escaped and flowed down his face slowly and what almost seemed gently. He squeezed his eyes shut and gripped his pants tightly with his hands. _

_"It doesn't make sense! No matter how hard I try...I-I always get knocked back down! Why am I always alone?" He asked to no one in particular. His voice quivered and he shook from the sudden change of atmosphere. It had gotten cold as it had darker. He spoke out quietly, "Why does everyone hate me?" _

_"I don't hate you" a soft voice spoke out. Naruto opened his eyes wide. Glancing around frantically for the person who said that to him. His eyes met the young face of the pink haired girl. She smiled at him gently. He stopped crying and rubbed his eyes. He blinked at her several times. Wondering if she was an illusion or not. He asked nervously, "R-Really?"_

_She nodded before walking towards him. She offered him her hand. He looked down from her face to the hand and stared at it puzzled. Did she want him to take her hand? But why? He shyly looked back up at her with questioning eyes and a slightly open mouth. She in return laughed merrily and grabbed his hand anyway. She helped him up and walked around. Continuing her hold on his hands. Naruto looked at their joined hands and blushed furiously. Why was she being so nice to him? She stopped walking and realized that she was still holding his hand. With a blush of embarrassment she quickly let go of his hand and sat on the stoned wall. Naruto watched her look at the setting sun before taking the spot next to her. She turned her head to face him, "I don't know why people hate you so much . . . you're nice" _

_Naruto's blush deepened and he looked away from her intent stare. She was different. She just had to be. After mustering up the courage, He asked her awkwardly, "Than why aren't we friends if you don't hate me?" _

_She widened her eyes before looking away sadly, "My parents don't want me to be around you..." she admitted softly. Naruto's eyes drooped a bit and he felt his hopes go down. He nodded slowly and after that there was a tense silence. Naruto didn't know what to say after that and she was too lost in her own thoughts to speak up. It makes sense, Naruto concluded, she would never hang out with him. He was well him. And everyone hated him. He smiled bitterly saying softly, "That's not a surprise. . You probably wouldn't even want to around me anyway" _

_She said nothing and all but nodded a little. Naruto lost his hopes entirely. That was it. He was doomed to remain eternity alone. Naruto didn't think he would be able to handle that. He could always just die and go to heaven. But what if God didn't want him in heaven? Naruto closed his eyes. She was just like everyone else. There was nothing special about her than. _

_"But that doesn't mean it's all the way true. . . "She suddenly spoke up. Naruto listened to her pause before continue on in what could be the most important words he would recieve in his life "I'll __**always**__ be your friend, Naruto"_

_"W-What?" Naruto opened his eyes quickly to meet the hidden face of hers. She turned away quickly trying to hide her faint blush. She turned to look at him and her breath left. He looked like a lost puppy that was happy to find someone. She smiled instantly and nodded at the question that had not been spoken, but didn't need to be, "Always" She grabbed his hand and gave it a slight squeeze before repeating again softly, "Always..." _

Naruto woke up in a cold sweat. He sprung up and looked at the alarm clock that said three in the morning. He squeezed his eyes and pounded the wall with his fist He was panting quickly and his head was killing him. Those memories hurt too much to think about. Why wouldn't his head just leave him alone? His eyes grew heavy and he fell down onto the mattress before whispering into the dark,"..._Sakura_"

_**~Sakura Haruno~ **_

Sakura woke up groggily to the sound of her alarm clock going off. She groaned tiredly and lifted her fist to turn it off. With a loud thud; it was off. Sakura lifted herself from her mattress and glanced at the time. Even though she already knew what time it was. 6:30 in the morning. Sakura blinked her eyes open for a few pondering seconds before she got up to a sitting position. She yawned loudly and stretched her arms in the air. She got up and placed her feet on the cool floor. The sun was just starting to rise, she noted dimly. Sakura sighed and began her usual morning schedule.

**6:30- **_get out of bed, go to the bathroom, and take a shower_

Sakura walked to the bathroom slowly and locked the door once she got in. She glanced at herself in the mirror and widened her eyes. Did she really look that bad in the morning? She shook her head and made a mental note that when she ever got that far with a boy; she would have to get up earlier than him because there was no way any guy besides her dad would see her like this. Not like that was a current problem. Her crush didn't even notice she existed with that she sweat dropped and sighed again in defeat. As of now she wished for some attractive mysterious guy to enter her life and take her on some adventure like all the shojo mangas she had read. Anything to get rid of her boring life. She stripped her pajamas, got in the tub, and turned on the hot water. She hummed faintly to her favorite song as the hot water flowed down her body. Sakura leaned back her head and closed her eyes in satisfaction. She could be here all day. Letting the water flow away all her problems and help her start over fresh and clean. Sakura shook her head out of the fantasy and went back to her mourning routine.

**6:50- **dry hair, comb it, and then change into uniform

Sakura went into her room in a fluffy white towel and grabbed her uniform. She stared it for a few minutes. _'Seriously, who came up with the fashion design?' _ She narrowed her eyes distastefully. Her uniform consisted of a white buttoned down shirt with a black stitched Konoha High School emblem patched onto her right sleeve. Her neck tie was black and so was her medium length skirt. Her socks were white and went up to her knees and the shoes were a shiny black. Sakura stares at her reflection in the mirror after putting on the uniform. Sakura didn't normally mind school uniforms, but she had overheard that some schools weren't using uniforms anymore and that the students could wear what they pleased. Sakura would kill to go to one of those schools. She loved her clothes and hardly got to where them since she was always in her uniform. Sakura went back to the bathroom to blow dry her hair. Once that was over with she combed it out and went back to her bedroom. She went to her bedside table and picked up her favorite red headband and placed it in her hair. She looked in the mirror and smiled slightly. Her soft pink hair went past her chest and was silky straight. She didn't feel the need to put on any makeup so Sakura grabbed her school bag and headed downstairs.

**7:10- **Eat breakfast

Her mom would always say that breakfast was the most important meal of the day so she would never skip it. Even if she was dieting (which she was!). Sakura's mom was humming loudly as she fixed up together some eggs and bacon. Sakura inhaled the savory smell of both and let her mouth water. As much as she liked the traditional meal of breakfast here she wouldn't complain when there was Western style for a change. Sakura smiled brightly and greeted her mom cheerfully, "Good morning mom" and at that moment Sakura's stomach grumbled. Sakura's mom gaped at her daughter and the room went silent before laughter emerged from the both of them. Once the laughter had died down, Sakura's mom smiled warmly before commenting, "Well guess that's my cue to feed my starving child"

Sakura blushed and grabbed a plate from the top cabinets. Sakura grabbed a fork and poured in some eggs and bacon. She placed her plate on the kitchen island counter and took a bite of her food. Her stomach happily shut up and complied with the delicious food it was being fed. Sakura ate in silence for a little bit before glancing outside at the dining table, "Where's dad?" Sakura asked curiously. Sakura's mom sighed and turned off the stove. She grabbed the pan and put some food on her plate. She looked at her daughter somewhat sadly, "He had to go in early"

"Again?" Sakura exclaimed. Her eyes widened upon the news. Sakura's mom nodded sadly before grabbing the pan and setting it in the dishwasher. She spoke tiredly, "The office has needed him a lot more now. He's been working on a huge design lately and I can't help but feel he's over working himself..."

Sakura softened her eyes and offered her mom a gentle smile, "I'm sure dad's got everything under control. At this rate you're going to stress yourself out over worrying about him too much" Sakura's mom smiled appreciated that her daughter was concerned about her welfare as well. She shook her head slowly, "I know, Sakura. Don't worry about it" Sakura smiled and nodded. Her phone rang. It was Ino-pig which could only mean one thing. . . She glanced at the clock and widened her eyes, "Shit! I'm gonna be late for school!" Sakura exclaimed. Sakura's mom narrowed her eyes and scolded her for bad language. Sakura got up and shrugged it off. She handed her mom her plate and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before dashing out the door with her handbag. The last thing she heard before she left the house was her mom's usual line, "Love ya Sakura! Have a great day in school!"

Sakura rolled her eyes,_ 'Great day in school my ass'. _

**7:15- **Get a ride from Ino and go to school.

"Forehead, you're late" Ino commented as Sakura entered the car. Sakura rolled her eyes and put on her seatbelt. She made no comment. Once they were on the road, Ino glanced at Sakura and frowned. Not liking the total silence in the car except the radio. "What's up, forehead? Why are you so silent?" Ino asked bluntly. Sakura rose her eyebrows at Ino's question before sighing, "Nothing really. Just some problems at home that's all. . ." Ino nodded understanding what Sakura was talking about. She didn't push the subject any farther. Sakura would talk to her when the time was right. Instead Ino grinned wickedly, "Guess what?"

Sakura tapped her finger on her lips and gave in quickly, "What?" Ino squirmed in excitement. She couldn't wait to see the look on Sakura's face when she told her the news. Oh it was going to be good! Ino stopped at the red light and casually said like as if it was no deal, "Sai asked me out"

Sakura gaped at her friend. Hey eyes could have been bulging out of their sockets for all she knew as she continued to stare at her like an idiot. It took some time before her mind processed what had just been spoken and she quickly shrieked out very loudly, "What?" Ino grimaced a little but otherwise laughed at Sakura's reaction. She smiled happily as a faint blush on her cheeks. She gave out a content release of breath and nodded at Sakura's question.

Sakura's shocked gaze quickly turned into a happy one and she leaned over to give Ino a semi-hug, "Congratulations! How did he ask you out? And more importantly where are you guys gonna go?" Before Ino could answer, the moment was short lived as the car behind them honked at her. Ino's forehead throbbed as she seriously considered giving the guy a piece of her mind when she looked up and noticed the light was green. Oops! Ino giggled and hit the gas speeding down the road. Ino replied a few moments after that, "He asked me out to the dance this Friday."

"Oh!" Sakura remarked. It wasn't a surprise that Sai asked her out really. With the way those two flirting lately it was bound to happen. Plus when you're best friend was a total "babe", as guys liked to say, she was constantly being checked out. Ino had long platinum blonde hair, perfect pale skin that showed no damage of acne, light blue eyes, long legs, and a big chest. It was a no brainer on why she was considered hot. In Konoha there weren't many girls like her so she stood out like a sore thumb (well so did Sakura.), but not in a bad way. Back to the present, Sakura frowned slightly and furrowed her eyebrows. She was the only one among her friends that didn't have a date. Ino noticed Sakura's slightly depressed mood and got concerned, "Sakura, what's wrong . . . ?" Ino widened her eyes remembering that she had made plans to go with Sakura since she hadn't been asked out yet, "Oh shit! I totally spaced out on that! Hmm well I guess I'll just tell Sai that we have to go out some other time"

"Ino, you don't have to do that" Sakura said. She would feel horrible if she was the one who kept Ino from being happy. This could be her only chance in getting the guy she's been pinning after for a while. Ino shrugged it off with her hand, "It's alright. I made plans with you first so I'm not gonna blow them. It's not a big deal"

"Ino-pig, just go to the dance with him" Sakura stared blankly at her. Ino smiled and thanked her friend. They pulled into the parking lot.

**7:20- **arrive at school

They parked and just as they entered the school yard, the bell rung. "Great were late" Ino muttered.

"Sorry!" Sakura apologized sheepishly. Ino rolled her eyes and mumbled, "Yeah yeah.." They both looked at each other and smiled anyway. After a quick bye, both departed their separate ways and soon enough Sakura entered the same class schedule she had been following for over a month now. Guess it was just going to be another typical day.

**7:30- **second bell rings thus class begins and so does the rest of the torturous days spent in the hell called high school.

_**~Naruto Uzamaki~**_

Naruto groaned tiredly as the sheets were flung off him. Naruto opened one of his blue eyes and searched for the person who was waking him up. He saw Iruka, one of the caretakers, smiling brightly at him. He took in his dark brown eyes, tanned skin, scar across the nose, and messy dark brown hair held back in a tight ponytail. His charming and cheerful smile was not helping his mood. Naruto closed his eye and turned his head the other way, "Fuck off" he muttered darkly. Iruka sighed and put a hand on his face. Shaking his head slowly before mumbling softly, "Naruto"

He snapped out of his trance and smiled again, "It's time to get up! Breakfast is ready and later you're going to see your doctor today" Naruto groaned softly and mumbled something out of his breath as he sat up on his bed. He got up and glared at Iruka,"Can you give me some privacy?" Naruto asked bluntly. Iruka raised his eyebrows before chuckling and walking out of the room. Naruto rolled his eyes before heading to his dresser. He grabbed a plain faded gray shirt and some lose jeans. He put them on quickly and headed out the door. He glanced at Iruka from the corner of his eye and saw him talking to another assistant, Mizuki, if that's what Naruto remembered. The night guard. Pfft. If that's what you could call him. All he did was sleep around with the female patients and help out the kids "stable" enough sneak around if you paid the right price. Naruto ignored them and walked down the hallways. They were rather boring and bland. The walls were a dirty white suggesting that they hadn't been cleaned in a while. The tiles were a cream and that was it. Naruto made a left and went down the stairs. He headed down to the first floor and walked along the more colourful halls. They were a light blue now, he noted blankly. He passed the doors and entered the makeshift of the cafeteria. He scanned the crowds of about thirty some teens and saw an empty table. He went to the lines and got his food before sitting down on that table. It was funny to think that this was considered the worst of Konoha and some other districts such as Suna. This was one of the best mental facilities supposedly, but in reality it was just the saddest excuse of one.

Naruto felt the eyes of people staring at him. He looked up from his breakfast and openly looked back. They were mostly girls. _'Great'_ he thought sarcastically before looking away. In front of him he noticed that some idiot was trying to pick up a fight with Gaara. He's dead. The idiot happened to be a tall thin guy with brown hair and brown eyes. Pretty average, but apparently he wanted to take down the prison's-rehab's worst kid. Gaara No Sabuko. He watched as the moron threw some insults at Gaara. The redhead ignored them and continued to eat. His eyes forever remaining on the table until the guy had went too far. He had mentioned something that _**always **_made Gaara snap. "He's a goner" someone behind him commented. Gaara's vibrant light green/bluish eyes stared at his victim before a hint of insanity spoke up, "Fine than let's fight"

Gaara stood up and walked outside into the patio where the helpers wouldn't notice the fight. He crossed his arms broadly and stared at the brunette intently as the crowd went silent. Tiny projectiles of sand whizzed by, but only a few could tell. That would mean the poor people who had somehow seen one of Gaara's more brutal fights. Naruto noted that deathly calm look on his face and almost felt bad for the other guy. If anyone knew anything, Gaara was a lab experiment for his district and had a strange sense of control over sand. No one other than the patients believed he had any though. The other guy taunted him, "What are you just gonna stand there? Fine! I guess I'll have to knock some sense into you" the fighter charged and in that second. Gaara smiled wickedly before the man in turn punched him. Gaara stepped to the side. _'So Gaara's not going to kill him until later.' _ Naruto thought as he watched the brunette punch aimlessly into the air. Gaara was known to play with his prey and wait till much later to kill them. Naruto shuddered as he recalled witnessing the bloody massacre a few years ago when he had accidentally stumbled across it at night. That was another thing Mizuki did. He kept silent if you threatened him well enough.

Naruto turned his attention elsewhere. He wondered how long it would take until the brunette would break and give up. He rolled his eyes. Why did it matter to him? Naruto went on to chew his cereal and found himself thinking of _**that **_dream. Sakura Haruno, the girl he had first called his friend. The girl he had loved before he even liked girls. He closed his eyes and sighed. He rested his elbows on the table and put his head in his hands. _'Sakura, what are you doing? Do you . . . do you ever think about me?' _ Naruto thought hesitantly. He snapped his eyes opened and straightened from his slouched position. No she doesn't! Why the hell would a girl like her even remember a guy like him? It was stupid. He was stupid to even think that. _'You love her though. . 'He_ reminded himself. Naruto widened his eyes before furrowing his eyebrows. Did he? There would always be some attraction to her. He knew that, but was it still love that made him think of her often? Or was it just interest and fascination? After all she had been the only one who had told him she was his friend. Naruto sighed. He didn't know and would never know. He was never getting out of here. With that bitter remark, Naruto pushed away all thoughts of Sakura and noticed that the fighting had stopped.

He glanced outside and saw two assistants taking hold of the thrashing brunette who had somehow gotten a busted and bloody lip. He was yelling and swearing at Gaara. Gaara looked like he could care less with his folded arms as he calmly walked away with the caretaker who refused to touch him. Not like he would even let anyone touch him. They both met eyes and a silent understandment was spoken even though there were no words. Gaara broke the stare and Naruto smirked a little. Sometimes it got interesting in this hell. Sometimes.

Iruka came up to him panting slightly and looking a little flustered. He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. Naruto raised a brow. "How many times do I have to tell you to not go without me?" he scolded. Naruto stared at him blankly while blinking a few times. He shrugged and made no comments. A vein throbbed in Iruka's forehead as he asked, "Well?"

Naruto replied, "I was tired of waiting and sticking around to listen to Mizuki and you talk. That wasn't on my mind." Iruka closed his eyes before inhaling and exhaling deeply. He didn't say much until he had finally calmed down. He spoke softly, "I'm sorry for snapping earlier. You're right I shouldn't have been talking to Mizuki for too long, but next time just get my attention before walking off."

Naruto didn't say anything, but stood up and headed out the doors. He looked back at Iruka and asked him, "Aren't we gonna be late?" Iruka nodded and walked with him past the doors. They walked down the hallways once more until they reached the medical wing. Iruka stopped walking and motioned for Naruto to get in the room. Naruto entered the room and met up with the face of Byukka Ichimaru. Byukka was a thirty year old man who could be deemed handsome. His hair was wavy black; his eyes were dark and seemed like the midnight sky, his face was pale but nice looking. In typical Byukka seemed like a good respectable adult. _'If only they knew. . .' _ Naruto thought as he sat down cautiously. Byukka glanced from his laptop and gave Naruto a devious smile. He looked back at his computer and did a few clicks before closing it. He put it away and pulled out a notebook with a pen. He smirked, "Well if isn't my favorite patient, Uzamaki Naruto . ." he said cheerfully. Naruto rolled his eyes. Wishing he didn't have to deal with him today or well ever. Byukka paid little to no attention to Naruto's lack of enthusiasm. His face got serious and he stared blankly, "What has Konoha's monster been up to lately? How is he feeling? Have you been participating with any of Gaara's killings?"

Naruto said nothing and remained silent. Byukka sighed frustrated. He grinned, "So Naruto I hear you've been having the same dream lately. .Something about a girl. . hmm Haruno Sakura right?" Byukka asked before pausing to catch Naruto's expression. Naruto's eyes widened before he narrowed them into a glare. How did he know about Sakura? Naruto made no comments so Byukka continued to taunt him, "Was she your girlfriend? I've seen her a few times when I drop my niece off at school. She's friends with her so I hear and let me tell you she has a pretty face. Would I just love to feel her-" that's as far as he got before Naruto punched him in the face. Naruto grabbed him by the collar and his eyes went dangerously vicious. He wanted to kill him. To beat the daylights out of him and watch him beg for mercy. Naruto would like nothing more than to see Byukka pay for even thinking about touching Sakura. Byukka watched Naruto seethe as he growled out, "Don't. You. Ever. Touch. Her."

Byukka cocked his head to the side, "Quite possessive aren't you?" he mocked. Naruto didn't let go of his collar. He kept his firm and sturdy look. Byukka smirked and held up his hands in defense, "I was joking, kid. Geez can't even take a joke" Naruto stared at him suspiciously before letting him go and sitting on the chair. He crossed his arms and openly scowled at the man who was his supposed councilor. Byukka smirked and asked again, "So who is she to you?"

"No one" Naruto spat out darkly.

Byukka raised his eyebrows curiously before leaning back on his chair. Placing his hands behind his head and he relaxed, "Oh really? So why would you care if I ever made a move on her?" Naruto bit his lip, _'Damn' he_ cringed. This guy always knew how to break him through his weak spots. His weak spot happened to be Sakura. . .sadly. Naruto knitted his eyebrows and wondered what he should do about this. Be honest was out of the question. So instead of answering his question he asked one himself, "Why do you want to know? And don't give me that crap about being my councilor. .what is this _really _about?"

Byukka widened his eyes a bit. He was quite surprised that Naruto had the brains to ask a question like that. His slightly shocked expression turned into a smirk. He chuckled in an amused fashion, "You interest me, Naruto Uzamaki" Naruto gave him a dead panned look. Almost as if urging him to go on. Byukka raised a brow. _'This kid is smarter than he lets on. .' _ Byukka sighed. He put a hand on his forehead and closed his eyes tiredly, "Does that not satisfy your needs, Naruto?"

"You're not answering the question"

"Neither did you!" Byukka snapped back angrily. He sprang up to his feet and gave Naruto a threatening glare as he breathed deeply. Naruto stared back at him blankly and rolled his blue eyes before asking calmly instead, "Why does my life interest you, Byukka?" Byukka gave him an aggravated look before sitting back down on his chair. Naruto noted that Byukka lost his temper quite easily. That was a good thing for Naruto. _'If I can distract him long enough than he won't question me about Sakura anymore. . .' he_ concluded. Naruto thought that his idea was good enough so he asked again, "Byukka?" Byukka stared at him for a very long time without moving or saying anything. It was like he didn't hear him. Naruto sighed and got up away from the desk. He started to head out of the room until he heard the reply. Naruto didn't quite understand him so he turned around and gave the older man a confused look. The councilor simply answered again, "Your life interests me, because like many things in this district it is messed up"

Naruto knew that his life story was messed up, but like other things in Konoha? What did that mean? Naruto cocked his head to the side before slowly starting to close the door shut. He walked back to Byukka's desk and crossed his arms. He waited for Byukka to either snap out of his trance or continue. It was the latter, "Naruto, there are many things you don't know about this district due to you spending most of your life in this prison . . . but someday this will all make sense when you escape this prison" Byukka's dark eyes met Naruto's. There was a haunting look that numbed Naruto right to the core. Byukka spoke very softly as if not wanting anyone to hear, but Naruto, "And when that day comes Naruto, I must warn you that _**they will come after you **_. . . .and when they do watch out for _her_" Naruto wanted to ask who he was talking about, but just as quickly Byukka told him that he changed his disturbed look. His solemn face bored into his computer screen and started typing away. Naruto furrowed his eyebrows and hesitantly called out to him, "Byukka?"

Byukka glanced at Naruto and raised a brow, "You're still here? Our session has ended and I have more things to do . . . so may you please-?" His eyes flickered from Naruto to the door and Naruto got the message. He got up and went to the door. He opened it and looked back at Byukka. He looked away and headed out the door. What had that been about? "They will come after you . . . but who's they?" Naruto asked stupidly to no one. He walked down the hallways in silence. His head was still busily pondering about who "they" could possibly be. Naruto frowned when he recalled Byukka's horrified eyes at the mention of them. It was true when he said that Naruto had spent most of his life there. Byukka had never talked about those things before. But when he escaped? Naruto stopped walking with that. Naruto had never thought about escaping. But it seemed like he would. And when he did he would have to protect her? Was Byukka referring to Sakura? Naruto wasn't too sure about that.

"Naruto!" Iruka exclaimed. Naruto glanced back at the assistant that was running up to him. Iruka stared at Naruto weirdly, "Where are you going?" Naruto realized that he had passed his room mere moments ago and sweat dropped. This day was certainly turning out to be an interesting one.

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><p>-Author Comment's-<p>

Ok so that was chapter one! I'm not really sure where this story is going like I previously said so this is going to be interesting. . . .Well if you have any questions just PM me and you should most definitely leave a review! Don't flame though they're not welcome! But suggestions and reasonable criticism are deeply appreciated (I don't want to look like an idiot) other than that just tell me what you think and see you in chapter 2!

Read and Review :)

~envyofclouds~


	3. Chapter 2: Thoughts

A/N: Yo! Sorry that this is kinda late! I have a good excuse for that, my computer was being fixed. It broke down so of course I couldn't write anything since all my files are saved on to my laptop. So yep in exchange I made this chapter extra long! Thanks for all the lovely reviews and I love how some of you are like,_"Wow this is so dark!" _ well its supposed to be! So thats really good that you guys think it is and thanks for the noters on my bad grammar and accidental mispelling use, but what can I say? Its summer and sometimes you don't feel like editting it like three times *guilty* Moving on I'm having Ino end up with Sai, because well . . . I wasn't really sure who else she could end up with. Since I do love Ino just as much as I love Sakura (Sakura wins tho!) her pairing was hard. I don't like the idea with her and Sasuke (yes Sasuke is in this story and later on will become a very important character like the manga) and well I know a lot of people like her with Shikamaru, but I dont like that. And Kiba, I don't see that at all. So that leaves Sai and Choji. I don't mind either, but I went with Sai cuz I like him more. So deal with it! Anyway onward to chapter two

_**WARNING: This is rated M for some hard language, violence/death, some sexual referance (nothing detailed because that could get my story deleted) and in all some adult themes that aren't quite crude enough to be MA but still not innocent enough to be T. So if you don't like any of what I stated do NOT read this story. **_

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, just this story!

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><p>Chapter two: Thoughts<p>

Starting Yesterday

Sakura Haruno sighed as she stared at the class window. She was rather bored with the lecture that Kakashi sensei was teaching. Well if you could call Kakashi sensai's lessons a "lecture". He rarely taught you anything important since his lessons were almost always done in riddles. He was what you may call a lazy teacher. He was good at teaching and his advice on study notes was excellant, but he rarely did that. Kakashi sensai was a mysterious man in the class's eyes. He hid half of his face with a coughing mask and one of his eyes was a different shade of colour. One of his eyes was a light gray and the other was red, which seemed somewhat unnatural. His hair was also white. One might say that he was just albino, but that was not the case. His skin was pale yes but not in that way. Besides his odd looks (that still deemed as quite handsome), no one knew much about him except for his name and what he taught. His personal life was never shared and it didn't seem like he was married. Heck they didn't even know how old he was! _'He seems young though...'_ Sakura narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Just who was her sensai? She shook her head and once again looked outside the window. The day was nice. The sky was blue, the sun was out, and there were hardly any clouds. It was perfect.

_'And somehow I'm stuck in here..' _ Sakura thought dimmly. Normally Sakura didn't mind school. . . she actually loved it! And it wasn't the school that was the problem, it was Sakura. Sakura loved the idea or learning more and getting good grades. Plus all the teachers she had were great and loved her. Sakura had lots of friends and was considered "popular" yet there was something off in her life. Like as if something was missing. She didn't know what it was yet but it was messing up her thoughts. All she could really do was think about how boring her life was. All she did was go to school, volunteer at the hospital, hang out with Ino(and sometimes some other friends) and go home to her family. Sakura widened her eyes. Was her life really _that _boring? She knitted her eyebrows together and tried to think of anything else she did in her life. There wasn't anything else . . . well except for pinning after Sasuke.

She softened her eyes and let out a tired sigh. _'Sasuke' _ Sakura thought. Sakura had been in love with Sasuke ever since she first laid eyes on him. He was everything she wanted in a guy: handsome, taller than her, smart, cunning, athletic, mysterious silent type, and again he was just so attractive. She smiled dreamily as her thoughts of Sasuke went further along the line. But there were a few things about Sasuke that Sakura just couldn't over look. He was cold, arrogant, cocky, had too many fan girls,a heart breaker, and was just down right not a good guy. Even though Sakura was a part of his 'group' she had never spoken to him directly. He barely even looked at her as if he didn't even know she was there! And that aggrivated Sakura to no end. There was nothing Sakura would love more than to wipe of the Uchia's cocky smirk right off his face by pounding him into the ground. Sadly though he was too strong for her to even be able to try. That and well she would never actually hurt him. She loved him . . . right?

Sakura shook her head. _'Maybe all those years of chasing after him finally sent me the message that I should move on . . . just like Ino did." _ Sometimes she would find it hard to believe that her best friend had also liked Sasuke. But seeing as only reason Ino had taken notice of Sai at first was, because he happened to remind her of Sasuke. Now she was head over heels for Sai for himself and not just because of his Sasuke resemblance. Back when she had liked Sasuke though it had been terrible for their friendship. They had almost ended it and at one point they did in middle school. It had taken until high school for them to finally start talking to each other again and the rest just clicked. Sakura was secretly a little envious of her best friend. Ino was so lucky in love and look at her. She was here spacing off about her pathetic excuse of a love life. Ino got asked out daily and Sakura had only one declaration of love. And that was from Lee. Sakura's eyea twitched at the mention of her classmate. He was nice enough, but his eyebrows . . . that and he was just a friend!

Now Ino basically had a boyfriend and what was Sakura's relationship status? Single. And that was most likely forever. No one else interested her or even attracted her like Sasuke did. And even than she was starting to lose her love for him! She was a hopeless case. A sad loser in the teenager world. Sakura groaned inwardly and pulled on her hair. Why was she so hung up over this? Yesterday she hadn't even been thinking about wanting a boyfriend! Well except for wanting Sasuke. Yesterday she had been perfectly fine with her life and now she wanted more! She wanted to be in love and see the world. She wanted for some hot new mysterious guy to show up on her doorstep and sweep her away on some magical adventure where they would fall in love with each other just like in shojo mangas. She wished that anything could happen to just change her life someway. Anyway would be fine in her eyes as long as she got—

"Sakura?" Sakura looked up to see the face of Kakashi sensai looming above her desk. She shrieked and jumped a few feet in the air. He had surprised and scared the hell out of her. Pretty soon the whole class erupted with laughter and didn't look like it would stop anytime soon. Even Kakashi sensai was chucking softlty. Sakura felt herself blush furiously so in defnse she crossed her arms and let her bangs fall into her eyes. She was mortified. How did she let herself get so distracted? Sakura wasn't one of those type of girls to space out during class. She was an ideal student for Pete's sake! She had straight A's, perfect class attendance, athletic, quick in learning, self-motivated and competitive, she was popular, didn't do anything illegal, was on the student commitee (she was student council president of course!) and was all around a nice person. But even perfect students had their day's right? Kakashi sensei smiled warmly, "Next time at least space off towards the board so you at least look like you're paying attention alright?"

"H-hai..." Sakura nodded slowly as she unsteadily said that word. Kakashi sensei nodded and quickly turned back to the front of the room. Sakura's blush refused to lessen. She sighed tiredly and waited for the bell to ring. Once it did, she quickly got her stuff together and put them in her bag. Ino walked up to her desk and frowned. She put her hands on her hips and demanded some truth from Sakura, "Forehead, are you alright?" Sakura ignored her for a few moments and started walking to the door. Ino raised a brow and followed after her best friend. Sakura made it to her locker and opened it to put her books inside it. Ino leaned against her own locker and folded her arms, "Sakura . . . seriously what's wrong?"

Sakura closed her locker and turned to face Ino. Sakura offered her a fake smile, "It's nothing, don't worry about it." Ino frowned again and blankly told her, "Spit it out'" she coldly stated. Sakura sighed and nervously smiled, "I can't hide anything from you..." Ino offered her a slight smile and Sakura looked around. She pressed her lips together tightly and opened them, "Let's talk somewhere else...I don't want any of the others to listen." Ino nodded and both of them grabbed their lunches from their lockers. They walked outside to the school yard and found a nice shady spot under a tree where no one else could find them. Once they had sat down, Ino turned to Sakura and told her again, "Spill forehead"

"I'm bored."

"Well no shit Sherlock, this is school. It's not supposed to be fun or entertaining." Ino rolled her eyes and gave her a blank look. Sakura groaned in frustration and shook her head. This was why she didn't want to tell Ino! Sakura fisted her hands together and pressed them tightly against her sides. She could feel her fingernails dive into her flesh and she winced, "No, what I mean is . . . I'm tired of my life. It's been the same ever since we were kids! All my life, I've been the "good girl"..."Miss goody two shoes" and I'm sick of it! I want some excitement in life! I want to go places and do things. I want to fall ridiculasly in love...I want to change, Ino. I want things to change. Isn't high school supposed to be the time of out lives? Because so far it doesn't feel like it . . ."

"Sakura..." Ino replied concerned. She frowned. How long had she been feeling this? How long had she been feeling so _empty? _ Ino closed her eyes and sighed. Just what could she tell her best friend? How could she explain that having adventures and falling in love were done more in the movies? Ino shook her head a few times before opening her eyes. She offered the girl beside her a soft smile, "Life isn't like that though. I mean it's not like I want to be a total downer on your whole parade or anything, but that kind of stuff just doesn't happen. Yeah sure you could go places when you get older, bur right now were only in our second year of high school. There's not much we can do. You could go out partying and you have, but you don't like that type of stuff. Adventures don't happen outside in the real world, well besides manga. And what about Sasuke? I thought you were in love with him?"

"I'm not sure anymore, Ino." Sakura said. She cast her eyes down on her lap and she spoke somewhat sadly, "My love for Sasuke may just be a puppy crush and even if it wasn't; it's not doing me any good. Let's face it, the guy barely looks at me even though were in the same group. I just . . . I just wish something exicting could happen in my life ya know?" Ino nodded. She understood where Sakura was coming from. Who didn't dream of a world outside their own? Of a life that wasn't theirs? Ino instead of telling her this she decided to hit her on the shoulder. Sakura yelped and asked her what was wrong with her. Ino closed her eyes and simply said, "The Sakura I know doesn't mope around and give up on their crushes. . ."

Sakura widened her eyes. Ino had a point. She wasn't the type of girl to get very deep on questioning life. She should be proud of her accomplishments. Plus how many girls could say that they could not only handle a popular social life along with the best female acedmic grades in the school? She smiled smugly and not to mention she happened to be student council president. Sakura nodded, "Thanks Ino..." Ino smiled softly and waved her hand in the air like it was no big deal. After all this was the duty of a best friend. She shrugged off the comment, "Ah don't thank me, someone has to knock some sense into you!" she teasedn Sakura giggled and nodded. And to think once she had ended her friendship with Ino over Sasuke. Her eyes softened. Was he really that worth it? It's good that Ino had given up on him and moved on to Sai, because Sakura would have never had the guts to restart their friendship. Especially since she had been the one to push her away, "Hey Ino?"

"What's up forehead?" Ino asked. Sakura blinked a few times and wondered on the right choice of words. How to approach this was confusing her. Ino rose a brow. What was the problem now? Sakura released her breath and asked hesitantly, "Do you think I'm ever going to find somebody...ya know other than Sasuke?"

Ino raised her brows and widened her eyes slightly. Now that hadn't been the question she was expecting. _'So Sakura really wants to move on that badly, huh?' _she thought. And she didn't blame her. After pinning Sasuke for years and with no luck; it got old. Ino didn't really know what to tell her. Would Sakura ever move on? She's been head over heels with the guy ever since she could remember! Would it be that easy to be move on from an old crush? Ino had been lucky in love. She had met Sai and it had been instant attraction. The boy was by all means attractive. Sure he had an apathy problem and at first she was onlt after him, because he reminded her of Sasuke. But that opinion quickly changed. Sai was very sweet and polite to her. His compliments were sincere and he made her feel special. Despite the fact that they hadn't had their first date yet Ino knew she was going to end up with him. Whether that meant in marriage or just a high school relationship was beyond her. And if Ino was honest, she kind of liked that fact. Ino offered Sakura a weak smile and nervous laugh, "Well that all depends on you...do you want to move on?"

Sakura nodded, "I do, but who could I move on to?" Ino pressed her lips together and both of the girls thought it over. Who would be a good match for Sakura? Ino suggested, "How about Shikamaru?"

"The pothead?!"

"He's not a pothead. Believe me, I would know. I sit next to him in homeroom and we have Science together. Quite to the contrary belief, he's really smart. Maybe even smarter than you..." Sakura looked unconvinced. Ino shrugged, "And once you get past his complaining and whatever attitude he's a pretty cool guy. Not that bad looking too." Ino winked at her. Sakura shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. She gave Ino a blank look and sighed, "He's too lazy and doesn't give a damn about school. He's constantly getting in trouble for sneaking out to the roof to '_watch the clouds' _and for falling asleep in class. He's one of the worst students in Konoha High and do you know how much I have to nag him? Daily?"

Ino grimanced, "Ok so no Shikamaru. Well sorry that you just happen to be student council president, forehead." she said somewhat bitterly. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows and glared at the blonde in front of her, "You say it like it's a bad thing."

"Sure it's not." Ino replied sarcastically. Sakura rolled her eyes and picked up her rice ball. She took a bite and chewed thoughtfully. Ino took a stab at her salad and offered again, "How about Neji? He's quiet, calm, very collected, smart, handsome, athletic, and doesn't get in trouble. Plus he's actually kinda of nice and respective towards you. Isn't he a part of the student council?"

Sakura frowned, "Isn't he dating Tenten?" Ino nodded as if remembering that fact. Plus Sakura didn't think she could date one of her council members. And there was something about him that always intiminated her. Maybe it was his apathy and cold expression? She shook her head. No longer wanting to think about it. She took a sip of her lemonade and asked, "Any more great ideas, pig?"

"Hold on I'm thinking . . . How about Shino?"

"The guy who's obsessed with bugs?" Sakura felt herself get queasy at the thought. She shook her head and Ino could only agree with her. Ino thought long and hard about who to say next. She grinned wickedly and Sakura sweat dropped. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Ino before realizing who she was about to say. Sakura glared at her and threatened, "Don't you dare."

"Hey it's just a thought!" Ino said innocently. She inwardly smirked. _'Like hell Sakura would ever want to end up with Kiba! Who would want to be with that pain in the ass? Well besides Hinata. . .' _Ino thought. Sakura sighed tiredly and closed her eyes. She leaned back and put her hands on the grass behind her, "Its official!" she declared a little loudly, "I guess I'll always be stuck loving Sasuke."

Ino sighed and face palmed her forehead lightly. Sakura could sure be a drama queen sometimes. She smiled coyly at the rosette beside her, "Well maybe you two are meant to be..." Sakura opened her eyes wide and gave Ino a glare. A vein throbbed on her face, "Don't make fun of me." she replied. Ino laughed half heartily and shrugged off the comment with her hand. Sometimes the girl could be so dense. Ino sobered down and said, "I'm not making fun of you! I'm serious. Maybe you two will end up together."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "As if, even I'm realistic and realize that Sasuke would _never _date me. Let alone look at me! He doesn't even know my own name depsite the fact that I'm president! Actually I don't think he even knows I exist. . ." her voice trailed on as she spaced off. Ino crossed her arms and was tempted to smack the girl, "Than make him notice! Don't just sit around and complain. Go after him and don't take no for an answer!"

"I'd rather not." Sakura replied bluntly. Ino sobbed. At this rate, she would never get a boyfriend. Their discussion was interrupted by the lunch bell. Both girls got up and packed their stuff away. Ino grabbed Sakura's shoulder before they left, "Don't worry, I'll make sure he notices you." Sakura sweat dropped. This was going to end up bad. She just knew it. She agreed to go to the mall with Ino later to shop for dresses. As they went their different ways, Sakura couldn't help but think why did she love the Uchia anyway?

_**~Naruto Uzamaki~ **_

_Blood. . . There was so much blood. It stenched his nostrils and made him feel sick. What had just happened to him? Naruto lifted himself from the ground slowly and almost cried out in pain when he found that something was wrong with his right arm. He sat up on his knees and looked at his arm. There was a nasty looking burn. He noted that his flesh had peeled off multiple times so all that was left was the dried blood that would occasionally leak out. He sighed and with his other hand he shuffled his hair. What had he done to his parents that had gotten them so upset? Naruto would be lying if he said he wasn't used to this usual routine. His adoptive parents hated him. Or well more his father did and his mom was just too scared to say anything to her husband's abusive torment. Naruto didn't really know why he was hated so much in the town. He could understand that he was different from everyone else. There was something special about him that cast him off from all the others. It could be for example the voice in his head. He rolled his eyes and ripped a piece of his burned shirt. He had to tend to the wound. He got up wobbily and slowly walked up the basement's stairway. He only made it up four steps before pain shot off in his leg. He fell and rolled down the stair steps. His head connected to something hard and it hurt like hell. The room started to spin out of control so he squeezed his eyes shut. He gripped his hair with one hand and waited for the throbbing to subside. He also noted that his ankle had twisted due to the fall. He gritted his teeth and muttered out to the night, "Shit" _

_He wasn't too sure of the time, but by guessing the window's darkness earlier it had to be some time in the middle of the night. That led to two options. Either his parents were asleep or his dad was getting drunk while watching tv. He sneered at the thought of that horrible man. He would be honest with himself and say that his hatred for him was strong enough for him to wish he was dead. He knew deep inside his heart that he wanted to kill the man. Never so much in the eight year old's life had he wanted karma to happen to someone __**so bad. **__He almost felt bad to think like that, but he was positive everybody wanted him dead. He allowed himself to relax momentarily as the pain calmed down a bit. A tear escaped his eyes as he silently wished to die. Was it wrong to wish for death when there was no point to his existance? He was of no use to this world and no one would miss him if he died. And if he did die, he would finally be free from it all. He would be free from his abusive home. Free from all the glares and death stares. Free from being alone. No matter how much he had tried to commit suicide, it just wasn't in the blonde's nature to give up so easily. He wanted to prove them all wrong and that he was worth living. But as of lately that had been backfiring on him. _

_Naruto wiped away the tear with his shoulder. He laid there on the cold ground for a while and felt his wounds already start to heal. Naruto would heal a lot faster than regular people and for reasons he did not know why. He could only assume that it was the "voice" in his head that helped him. For as long as he could remember, Naruto had always felt another prensense in the back of his head. But unlike most he didn't feel scared with that realization. In a way it calmed him down to know that at least someone was making sure he didn't die. Every once in a while he would hear it's "voice" and it would talk to him. Their talks were nothing of soothing and held no comfort. It just made sure he was alive and than it would heal him. Sometimes it would try to convince him to do things he shouldn't do. Like runaway from home or actually kill the man. It despised his father as much as he did. Naruto would never listen though. He figured this "voice" was much like the devil and angel figures that he saw in cartoons that rested on people's shoulders. Except little did he know that his apparent "voice" was a demon of some sort and was the very reason on why his life was hell. _

_Naruto gritted his teeth as he tried to crawl his way to the washing machine. Once he made it, he tried to sit himself up and with some pain he succeeded. Naruto panted and leaned his forehead on the cold appliance. He was burning up. He hoped he wasn't getting sick. As if responding to his question, he coughed loudly. It hurt so much that he felt like he was coughing up his lungs. Soon enough something triffled up his throat and escaped his mouth. It landed on his knee and was wet. Naruto hesitantly opened his eyes and stared at the dark substance that was staining his jeans. Blood. His face paled. He was coughing up blood now. That couldn't be good. Naruto released a long waited and shaky breath of air he had been holding. How long would he be stuck feeling this miserable? He closes his eyes tiredly and waited for himself to drift off to sleep. It was only in his dreams where he could momentarily forget where he was. If only just for a little while. Naruto's mind reminded him again of all his distant memories and it made him cringe. _

_Cries. _

_Pain._

_Screams. _

_Blood. _

_Mistakes. _

_Death._

_Apathy._

_Crying. He could remember so much crying. It had been his own tears that were shed on that cursed night. He could rememver feeling the small warm salty substance that escaped his eyes and trailed down slowly on his frozen cheeks. They had felt so hot compared to his cool face and numb body. His tears and sobs could not be surpressed that night. He didn't care that his dad told him that men shouldn't cry. Right now he was a little boy and was wailing with all his four year old might. Why did that happen? _

_Pain. He felt so much pain that night. It was like it never ended. He fell to his knees in front of the scene. There was no real pain...well at least not yet. But it didn't mean he felt it. There was that uncomfortable feeling of sadness and heartache. The images were imprinted inside his head and would never go away. He shook his head violently as if trying to erase the image before him. He grabbed his hair and pulled on it tightly. Why wouldn't this just all go away?_

_Screams. He could still hear their screams. It was still ringing in his head. Their scream . . . his screams. His throat hurt due to all of that, but all he wanted to do now was continue screaming. To release all the tension and anxiety that was built up inside of him with one blood chortling scream. But Naruto would do none of that. He couldn't. After all that would bring people to see what was wrong and no one needed to know what just happened. No one needed to enter the dark alleyway and witness this. No one did._

_Blood. It gave an awful smell in the narrow space alongside with the garbage. It flowed from the two bodies and pooled up to his feet. It was a bloody mess that was splattered all over the brick walls and garbage bins. It was dripping from him as well. It stained his white t shirt and soaked his pants. His shoes were drenched in the red liquid. His blonde hair was moistened from it and it fell from his bangs onto his face. The blood matched the colour of his eyes. Not like he knew that his eyes were red right now. _

_Mistakes. This was a mistake. He hadn't meant for this to happen. Everything had been fine until __**he **__messed it up. Why did __**he **__have to start talking to him? And taunting him especially? What was the purpose in that? Naruto had been having a great day until __**he **__got involved. This was the first time he had heard that "voice" and he had messed up. He let him take control. How was he supposed to know what would happen? _

_Death. How was he supposed to know that he would kill his parents if he let __**him **__control him? At first he had just felt dizzy and a little moody, but when he got angry. . . That was it. He snapped and leapt at his parents. Killing them. Naruto had killed his own parents. But he didn't mean to! He brought his head down onto his lap and gritted his teeth. He would never see his parents again. They were gone and it was all his fault. He didn't want to believe it. It couldn't possibly be real. This had to be a nightmare! He was going to wake up soon and his mom would comfort him with her gentle smile. Her words would soothe him and she would rub his head softly. Than his dad would tell him that they would always be there for him. Always. . . But now they were gone. _

_Forever. _

_Apathy. Now that his parents were gone, how was he going to live? Did he even deserve to live? __**'That's right, boy. You don't deserve to live...you killed your parents. But than again you needed my help to do that, you worthless brat. I can't kill you, but who says I can't make your life as miserable as mine? Don't worry though, I'll look after you forever.' **__Naruto felt himself calm down slowly and he straightened himself up. Was the "voice" true to his word? Would his life be miserable for the rest of his life? _

_**'Yes, it will be...' **__the voice purred. Naruto became numb. Maybe if he let go of himself there wouldn't be anymore pain? He let out his breath and closed his eyes. He just shouldn't care anymore. He should block these memories for as long as he could and than maybe he could be happy again. Maybe. . . It could be possible, right? Even a terrible soul like his deserved to be happy. Naruto could hear someone come down the alleyway and shriek. The person than came to him and asked him what happened. He didn't answer. His eyelids relaxed as he melted into the stranger's arms. The sound of sirens could be heard in the distance. Naruto felt himself drift away to sleep. It was there where he could be freed. Maybe he would wake. Just maybe. . . _

_Naruto flung himself up from his bed into a sitting position. His bare chest was covered in sweat. Yet again he was shaking from his own nightmares. It was like his concious could never leave him alone. His panting slowly stopped as he lifted a hand to his hair. He brushed a strand of hair from his eyes. Judging by the light of the room it was early sunrise. Naruto sighed, 'another nightmare, huh?' He supposed that not even his dreams would let him forget his sins. Naruto groaned softly and flopped back down on the bed. He covered his eyes with his arm and thought about his dream. It had been twelve years since that incident. He didn't really remember much about his parents anymore. He knew that he loved them and they loved him back, but that could never explain why he had killed them. If Naruto was honest with himself, he would realize that he wasn't the one who had killed them. It had been something else much worse and darker than him. Not like he would ever think that. In his eyes it didn't matter if it had been the works of the "demon" inside him. It was still him technically. If it hadn't been for that damned beast he would still have his parents and would be living a normal life. He'd be attending high school like a normal kid instead of their classes, he would have friends, he would be living in a home, he might even have a girlfriend, but most importantly he would be happy. . . Then again he wasn't the type of guy to wish for the inevitable. This was his life now and probably forever. He would just have to deal with it. But then why did he feel like this? Why did he wish that things were different? Why did he keep hoping that there was more to life for him then just this? Did he want to leave?_

_Naruto shook his head slowly and lifted his arm from his eyes. He carefully opened his eyes and stared at his ceiling blankly. He hated feeling so confused. He didn't want this anymore. Up until now he had been fine with living the rest of his life like this, but now he wanted more. He wanted to see the world and go on adventures. He wanted to make friends and find a special girl. He wanted his life back, but that wasn't possible. His face darkened as a scowl sketched back on his face. A monster like him didn't deserve a good life. No, he deserved to rot in hell. Naruto brushed off the idea of living another life and slowly got up. He straightened his back and swung his legs out of the mattress. His feet touched the cold surface and he got up. _

"_**Naruto!" **_

Naruto paused and idly wondered who was calling him. He looked up and saw that someone was standing right in front of him. He blinked a few times and glanced to the side. He realized that he was sitting in the hallway. How did he get out here? '_I must have spaced out again…' _ he sweat dropped. He must have been reliving his previous nightmares this morning. "Hey you! Don't just go off ignoring me!" Naruto glanced back at the guy and noticed that the guy was one of the "troublemakers" here. He rolled his eyes at that thought and waited for the guy to continue. '_That's great; he probably wants to fight me' _

"What?" He asked the guy. Naruto studied the boy in front of him. He had short spiked up blue hair, probably dyed he guessed, brown eyes, and was kind of tall. He had six visible piercings which were consisted of snack bites, two eyebrow piercings on him right eyebrow, two on his lob and one on his left cartilage. Naruto sneered inwardly, _'Punk probably…' _The guy wore a faded black Ramones t shirt with baggy worn out blue jeans. He also had a tannish brown beanie on his head and a black n' white checkerboard sweatband on his wrist. The guy in return smirked and cocked his head to the side, "How 'bout me n' you do a fight?"

Naruto raised a brow. He had to be kidding right? From the look of his face, he wasn't. Naruto sighed. He wasn't in the mood to fight. He lifted his hand and shrugged him off, "Nah, what good would it do if you fought me? You'd just get in trouble and get put in the silent room." The guy crossed his arms and scowled at him. He closed his eyes briefly and shrugged before smirking again, "I dunno it'd make me feel better. . . I mean if I take down the strongest guy in the facility people wouldn't give me shit anymore about my looks. Plus the girls would prob get the hots for me and I know that you're gay n'll but some of the girls here are hot."

Naruto widened his eyes a little before relaxing them. Gay? People thought he was gay! He inwardly groaned. The things these people came up with and all just because he didn't like the girls here. He brushed off the guy's comments with his reply, "No, why don't you go and fight Gaara?" _'Plus Gaara might be getting restless again…' _Naruto added in his mind. He didn't really care much for the guy, but even he didn't want Gaara getting restless. He shuddered a little with that thought in his mind. The guy shook his head and said, "Nope if I'm a gonna fight someone it'll be ya."

"No" Naruto stopped him. The guy furrowed his eyebrows. No? Who did this guy think he was? The punk in return soon became angry and snapped at the dude, "So the demon of Konoha won't fight me, but he'll fight his own parents! How messed up is that, you fag!"

Naruto tensed and felt his blood go cold, "What did you say?" The guy smirked. This is what he wanted to see. Naruto would normally call himself a calm apathetic person to others, but when anything was mentioned about his past or Sakura he became frantic. He threw the other guy a hard glare and urged him to go on. To even try and repeat what he just said. To the guy's stupidity he did, "You almost killed your foster parents' right? But that's to be expected when you're considered a monster."

He snapped.

In a matter of moments he was up on his feet and punched the guy to the ground. Naruto wanted nothing more than to wipe the smirk out of his face. He pounced and got on top of him. He punched the guy in the face again and held him down. Naruto continued punching him until his knuckles bled and were bruised. He didn't even let the guy make a move. Naruto was lost in his own anger. The guy would pay for even opening his fat mouth. He didn't know anything about him. The punk screamed for help and bloody murder. Something was off about Naruto and when he was able to open his eyes, he instantly widened them. There was a haze over them. Typically they were a sea blue, but was it just his imagination or were they turning…red? He winced when his face was met with another fist. At this rate Naruto would kill him. Meanwhile, Iruka was walking down the halls when something caught the corner of his eyes. He stopped and paused. He furrowed his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes. He was hoping to see what was going on when it dawned upon him that it was a fight . . . and Naruto was in it! He quickly requested for back up and rushed to the two boys. Naruto had the other boy pinned to the ground and was beating him badly. The boy had so many bruises on his face that he could barely make out his face. He could tell that he was unconscious though. _'I hope I'm not too late' _Iruka thought worriedly.

Soon some more guards came and quickly restrained Naruto. They dragged him away all the while he was screaming at them, "Get your fucking hands off me!" They didn't budge. They walked him over to the _silent room _and placed him inside. With a final glare they locked him inside and proclaimed that he wouldn't be released until tomorrow. Naruto spat at the door and crossed his arms stubbornly. Locking him like he was an actual monster, now that was just wrong. And especially with the other guy had provoked him. Naruto breathed in deeply and tried to calm himself down. He willed himself to relax and exhaled. He closed his eyes and repeated this process for a few minutes until he was back to normal. He opened his eyes and looked around at the pale white room. The room had four walls that were all painted white and to the north wall there was a large tinted window. That was probably where they could watch over him and made sure he didn't do anything stupid.

"Like I could really do anything in this room." He muttered sarcastically. In the corner of the south and west wall there was a simple plain bed with no sheets or blankets. Just the mattress and a pillow. Terrific. Besides that there wasn't anything else in this room. He was left with only his thoughts. What had overcome him earlier? Had it been his own rage or was it the demon's? Naruto sighed and walked over to the bed. He sat on it and stared at the wall ahead of him. He let his mind wander and he turned to look at the tinted window. He stared at it blankly and frowned. He felt like a caged animal. He turned away and lay down on the bed. Maybe it was better for him to be a caged animal. After all he had to get used to it someday.

_**~Sakura Haruno~**_

"What do you think of this one?"

Sakura glanced up from her phone and watched Ino come out of the dressing room. She was currently at the mall shopping for dresses. But to her bad luck, she hadn't found a dress and she was still dateless. Was it even worth going? Ino had on a beautiful purple dress that was shaped like a v-neck so it showed off plenty of her cleavage without revealing too much. It had thin spaghetti straps and it flowed down to her feet. At first it started off as a deep purple, but slowly it started to fade into a light purple. It sparkled and was glittered. It looked very flattering to the blonde girl so Sakura couldn't help, but smile brightly at her best friend, "I think you found your dress!"

Ino looked at herself in the mirror and smiled dreamily, "You think Sai will like it?" Sakura giggled. Of course that was her main concern, "He'll love it." She reassured her. Ino grinned and twirled around. Sakura felt happy for her, but also a little envious. Why couldn't that be her right now? Why couldn't she have gotten a date and be shopping for a dress? Ino caught on to the shadow covering her eyes and frowned. Sometimes she felt like she worried about her too much. Maybe she really was the girl's older sister? She turned to her and grabbed her wrist. Sakura began to protest, "Ino— "

"Shut up, forehead," Ino told her and grabbed a red dress. She gave it to Sakura and pushed her into the dressing room. Sakura stared blankly at the red dress and was about to leave when she heard Ino again, "You better put on that dress, forehead! Or I'm coming in there and forcing it on!" she threatened. Sakura sweat dropped and knew she would do exactly that. Sakura held up the red dress and examined it. It was about knee length and strapless. It was actually really pretty. Sakura sighed and tried it on. After all what did she have to lose? Ino waited for her impatiently and was just ready to barge in when Sakura emerged from the dressing room. She gaped at her. She looked stunning. All Ino could do was stare with her mouth wide open. Sakura fiddled around with her hair and looked down at the ground. Silence could not be a very good thing. Finding enough courage to ask the self-conscious question, she hesitantly asked, "Well How do I look?"

"Hot!" Ino exclaimed loudly. Sakura blushed and went to the dressing room mirror. She looked at herself and smiled. She didn't look that bad in the dress despite her hair colour. Ino smiled softly, "Why don't you buy it?"

Sakura's smile left, "I don't have a date." She stated. Ino waved her hand in the air like as if she was shrugging away her comment, "Pfft whatever! With that dress and your gorgeous looks you'll probably steal away all the dates!" Ino seemed to pause and narrowed her eyes at the rosette, "That is as long as you don't steal Sai away it's all good!"

Sakura sweat dropped, "Sai thinks I'm ugly remember!"

"That's true!" Both of the girls laughed loudly and decided to change back into their old clothes. They went to the cash register and paid for the dresses. After exiting the store, Ino suggested that they should get a bite to eat. At first Sakura refused saying that she was on a diet until her stomach rumbled. They wound up going to the food court. They botch decided to get sushi and went in line to get some. It was there that they found an unlikely person. Ino nudged Sakura and made her look away from the food, "Sakura! Look!" Sakura turned her eyes to look in Ino's direction and saw who she was looking at. She gasped. It was Sasuke! Why would he be at the mall? Ino quickly dragged Sakura away from the line to Sasuke's direction. All the meanwhile, Sakura protested much to no avail. Ino waved and called out to the young Uchia, "Sasuke-kun!"

His face turned to the call of his name and his mouth twitched. His scowl deepened. Ino oblivious to it smiled and introduced the rosette to the Uchia, "Sasuke-kun, I don't think you've met my friend for—I mean Sakura-chan yet?"

Dark grey eyes turned to stare coldly into light green. Sakura sweat dropped and muttered under her breath, "Shit."

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><p>Author's comments<p>

Hey it ends with a cliffhanger! Haha sorry if this seemed too short I just thought that would be perfect way to end this chapter. Anyway the next chapter should be up in about two to three weeks so don't worry! But if I get enough reviews I'll publish it out in a week! So what do you say? Lots of reviews and you'll find out what happens next! But either other way please leave a review of what you thought and thanks for reading this!

Envyofclouds


	4. Chapter 3: Escape

A/N: Gome! I didn't mean for this to be so late...I spaced out and forgot that I hadn't written or published any new chapters for Starting Yesterday in a while. . . I actually wrote all of this in a weekend so if it's a little choppy that's probably why. I'll edit it later and repost it but in the meanwhile please accept this chapter as a token of my apology. Thanks for the reviews and sorry that the last chapter was kind of short. And another thing why did no one tell me that I have been spelling Naruto's last name wrong? XD

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chapter three: Escape

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><p><span>Starting Yesterday<span>

Uzumaki Naruto stared at the full moon above him. It had been three days since the incident and he hadn't been any trouble since. He had locked himself in his room and hadn't bothered to come out. What was the point? He was going to rot away in this place. He might as well do it with some dignity. The moon gave him comfort much like it did with his neighbor, Gaara. It reminded him that he wasn't the only one alone in this world. It loomed ahead of him and shined brightly. It looked so big and beautiful in his eyes. It calmed him down and helped him realize that it didn't matter if he was stuck here forever. The sky was dark and it had to have been sometime after midnight. Naruto was not an insomniac. He just chose to sleep this late sometimes. He mostly chose to do this due to his nightmares that occurred. He let out a long release of breath and closed his blue eyes. He leaned his head against the wall as his shoulders drooped. He wished he could just die. There was no point in this life anymore. Hell would be more gratifying then this. Or maybe he could be reborn again as something else. Maybe a bird? Then he could be free forever and roam the skies peacefully. Or maybe he would be born as another human and fate would be kinder to him next time. At this point he wasn't sure if it mattered if he came back as an animal or human.

Naruto laughed bitterly into the cold empty room. Why the hell was he thinking this? Was he really this bored? He argued with himself saying that he didn't have much of an option anyway. It's not like he could entertain himself any other way. His mind drifted away into thoughts of a pink haired girl with a pretty smile. He wondered how she was doing in life. Had she found happiness in life? Was she in love with someone else? Naruto's brows furrowed. Why did he care about that? He didn't love her. He didn't have any emotions. Yet he still felt something twinge when he thought that. What was her life like? She must have been popular with many friends, he supposed. She was very nice and sweet when he had talked to her. Why wouldn't anyone else want to experience her company as well? She must have grown up to be such a beauty. Probably a heartbreaker. His lips quirked up to a smile. No, she was too nice for that. It was funny to him. He had only known Sakura for a few moments, but she had made such a heavy impact in his life. If there was one thing he wished to do before he died, it was to see her one last time. He wouldn't even have to talk to her. Seeing her would be just fine. Naruto shook his head as his face twisted into confusion. Since when had he turned into such a creeper?

_'She must be happy,' _he thought. Why wouldn't she be? If she was as nice and beautiful as he remembered then she would be. But then again he didn't know of happiness anyway. How could he know for sure what it meant to be happy? He didn't see it here. He had no idea what the word meant. Maybe she wasn't happy? Maybe Sakura hated her life just like he hated his? Something stirred inside of him. Why would she hate her life though? Everything was perfect in hers. She must have had friends, a good family and home, good grades, and anything else anyone could ask for. She wasn't stuck in a mental rehabilitation like him. She was out there in the world. She was free from all of his life's regrets and pain. So how could she be unhappy? He wondered why this mattered to him so much. It wasn't like he knew her. Yet this troubled him deeply. He guessed that since she had been the last good thing in his life it had been natural to care about her wellbeing. Care? He didn't care about her right? He was a selfish monster. How did he know what it meant to care about another?

Naruto groaned. This was torture. Never knowing the answers to his questions. Never finding out what more life had to offer. Then again even if he was able to leave here what would be the point? Life had cursed him the moment his parents had died. It had clearly stated that it hated him so there were no second chances for him. All this thinking made his head hurt. He noted that he had been getting more headaches than usual. Should he tell Iruka about it and have him drugged? He shuddered and decided it would be best to die the way he was then being drugged. He had seen some of the other patients all drugged up and it was not a good sight. That was not the way he would die. They would stare off into space and never respond to anything. It would be like they weren't there...well not mentally anyway. He supposed he was already like that, but at least he knew he was there mentally. Well sometimes he was, but-Naruto furrowed his eyebrows. Someone was here. He didn't hear it, but he could sense it. It was hard to explain, but since he had the _other spirit _inside of him; it was like he had a sixth sense. He could literally detect someone's presence before anyone else knew they were coming. That was probably why people never surprised him. Not only that, but his other five senses were heightened up to a bigger degree. He wondered briefly how powerful this spirit was that was inside of him. He always thought of it as a demon, but what was it really? The sound of soft footsteps caught his attention and he straightened his posture. Now was not the time to be thinking of such unimportant matters. He had other things to attend to.

_**'Yeah boy. . .Shouldn't you be worrying about that stranger who is heading towards your room?' **_the demon asked mockingly. It laughed briefly while Naruto narrowed his eyes. He crossed his arms and scowled, '_Shut the hell up, who asked for your opinion anyway?' _Inside his head he could hear the spirit growl and threatened him to never speak to him that way again. Naruto scoffed. Threats were useless on him. What could the demon do? Make his life hell? It already was. Destroy whatever it was important to him? Like what? He had already done that before. Kill him? He laughed bitterly to himself. That would be pointless. It would be killing its own life as well. Naruto stopped arguing with the demon when he heard the sound of a quiet knock. Who was that and what could they possibly want at this hour? Naruto hesitated. Should he get up and open the door or just let the person leave? Amongst his better judgment, he got up and walked to his door. He didn't normally lock his door or even close the door, but you never know when that one crazy ass patient would barge into his room and try to murder him in his sleep. It was definately not the best wake up call. He sweat dropped and unlocked the door. It creaked open loudly to him, but he wasn't sure if the others had heard or not. He didn't detect anyone stirring from their sleep so he assumed it was safe. Naruto heard someone call out to him softly, "Naruto, it's me Iruka! Let me in!"

Naruto even more confused opened the door and allowed the bodyguard/attendant in. Iruka hurriedly came inside and closed the door behind him. He was dressed in his usual uniform and it was like he had never left. Naruto guessed that he must have had the night shift. But there was something off about him. He noted with skeptical eyes that his hands were trembling and his eyes were darting to all sides of the room. What was going on? "Naruto, there's no easy way to say this so I'm just going to say this up front. . ." he began before pausing. Iruka wondered how bluntly he should say what he was about to say and what information he should give away. He glanced at the moon and narrowed his eyes. It was starting to get late. He continued, "You need to leave this place...tonight" he added after giving it more thought. Naruto blinked. Had he heard him correctly? Leave this place? Tonight? What was that supposed to mean? Naruto was beyond confused. If that was even possible for an idiot like him.

Iruka sighed and caught on to his expression. He decided explaining would be best, "Naruto, I can't tell you much, but you have to go. And right now is the best time so hurry up and get dressed." As Iruka talked he moved throughout his room and pulled out his clothes from his closet. Naruto stared at him blankly and opened his mouth to say something, but found that no words could come out. Escape? The words started to process in his mind and his eyes widened even more. Numbly he reached out for the shirt and jeans Iruka was handing out to him. He put them on and continued to dwell on why he was leaving. What had happened? Why was he going now of all nights? Naruto felt something being dropped onto his hands. He looked down and saw that it was a sweatshirt. Iruka paused and saw how Naruto was staring at the sweatshirt vaguely. He sighed softly and told him, "Put that on, it's chilly outside and you're going to need it soon." Naruto nodded and did what he was told to do. Meanwhile his head was still spinning in chaos. Why? Why wad Iruka helping him? Didn't the man hate him?

Naruto had no time to ask him questions as soon as he slipped on his sneakers. Iruka turned to him after inspecting that the room looked like it had before he had arrived. Feeling rather proud of his hidden evidence he picked up the backpack of items that Naruto would need and made his way towards the door. Iruka held a finger to his lips and shushed Naruto softly. Naruto nodded once again and understood that they needed to be quiet. Iruka opened the door and hoped that it wouldn't make a sound. Luckily for them, it didn't. Iruka stepped out first and looked both directions of the hallway to make sure if the coast was clear. To Naruto it looked like he was testing the waters. Once he stood out and motioned for Naruto to follow, did he step out. He shut the door softly behind him and tredged forward. The two men walked slowly and quietly down the halls. As Naruto passed by Gaara's room, he briefly wondered if he would ever see the red head again. He had never been friends with him, but they both held some mutral respect towards the other that could not be spoken through words. Perhaps it was, because they both knew what it was like to be a monster and never be loved. As Iruka walked on ahead, Naruto stopped and considered leaving him something behind. He reached into his pocket and found a few coins and some gum. He sweat dropped. _'So much of a token..' _he though idly. Looking back up he saw that Iruka was passing the corridor. Panicking he stooped down to his knees and slid the coins through the doorway. He said a quick blessing and made his way down the hallway as quickly_-silently-_as possible.

Iruka never even noticed he had stopped. They continued to walk past another hallway and made a right to go downstairs when they finally reached the rec room. Naruto followed him to the back door and wondered if this was how they were going to leave. Iruka looked behind him and smiled wearily. He really wished he didn't have to be doing this to the young boy, but it was for his safety. _'Besides if I let him stay here any longer they could find out and probably. . .' _Iruka snapped out of his thoughts and punched in the security code. It beeped from red to green and the door handle unlocked. They both went outside and ran to the fence. It was a short run from the patio to the bushes. Naruto was whacked in the face by several branches and felt something bit him, but it didn't stop him. They left their silence and stealth and replaced it with speed. Quickly they arrived at the barb wired fences and both stopped to catch their breath. While panting Iruka handed Naruto the backpack. At that moment Naruto began to demand his answers, "Tell me why I have to leave, Iruka?!"

Iruka closed his eyes and didn't say anything. He opened a pocket in his jacket and took out a few papers. Instead of answering he told him, "These are your new papers, some money, a bus ticket to Konoha, and directions to the place you will be staying."

"I don't give a damn about that shit! What I want to know is why you woke me up in the middle of night and forced me to come out here. Don't you think I have the right to know at least that much? " Naruto fumed. Iruka responded calmly, "It's for your best. I know you don't understand, but-"

Naruto cut him off, "Why the hell do you care about what the best is for me anyway?! Don't you hate me as well?!" Iruka let out a release of breath and opened his eyes. Naruto saw that there was a look of sadness and despair in those brown eyes of his. It held such fierce emotions that it made him not even want to know anymore. Iruka smiled gently, "Naruto...I have never **hated **you. You're like a younger brother to me and I can't stand by to watch as you rot away." Naruto's eyes widened before he willed them to relax. He thought of him as a younger brother? But why? He had never treated him right. He disrespected him and got him in trouble multiple of times so than why? It didn't make any sense. Iruka continued, "You need to grow up and learn to let go of your past. It's time you started living like a normal teenager and start experiencing what life really has to offer. Get some friends, go to high school, fall in love, and do something crazy and fun. You just need to stop trying to _start yesterday _and start living today... And then maybe you'll get it."

Get it? Get what? As Naruto began to say something a bell went off. Both of them widened their eyes and Iruka hurriedly showed him a secret hidden spot to escape. There was a small hole under the fence that was just big enough to let him in. Iruka pushed him to go and told him to run as fast he could to the bus stop two miles away. Naruto went down on the ground and crawled under the burrow. As he went under some of the wires caught onto his sweat shirt and drove into his skin. He winced and bit his tongue from releasing a cry of pain. There was no time to stop though so he hurried and let it drag along his side. He made it to the other side and Iruka handed him his back pack. He remained frozen on the street as he stared into his caretaker's eyes. He was overwhelmed with guilt and remorse that all he could do was nod an apology before taking off.

Tears of frustration flowed down his cheeks and went into the air as he ran into the night. Why?! Why was it that when he finally found someone who cared about him, he had to leave?! Why was fate that cruel? His blood pumped with adrenaline and rage. It wasn't fair. He supposed he should be thankful that Iruka had helped him go, but what would happen to him? Naruto pushed that thought away and continued with the task at hand. He sprinted for ten minutes before he started to get tired. In the distance he saw the outskirts of a small gas station and wondered if he would even be able to get there. His sprint turned into a walk as his fatigue was starting to take over. His thigh was starting to hurt from where the fence had scraped him and he assumed that it must have been a pretty deep cut. His vision started to blur and the gas station looked a lot longer than it had been before. His energy was fading and his legs were starting to shake. He couldn't continue this on for much longer. His thoughts reminded him of Iruka and the great sacrifice he had made to get him here. He couldn't waste the opportunity the caretaker had given him. He was going to lose his job and might even be taken to prison for his crimes, the least he could do was make it to Konoha. Feeling oddly determined, he willed his body into a slow jog. His chest was on fire and his legs were sore, but he ignored it all for the sake of someone else. It felt weird being so selfless, but Naruto wondered if he would have to get used to it. After all how else did he expect to fit in?

Eventually he made it to the gas station and released a low sigh of relief. He crossed the empty lot and made his way to the bus stop. Once he was there he stopped and sat down. He breathed heavily and was drenched in sweat. He must have reeked. After resting he glanced up and studied the bus stop times. It said that the last time it would arrive would be 1:14 AM, but Naruto had no idea what time it was. For all he knew he could have missed it. He gritted his teeth and fisted his hands. Than all this effort would have been for nothing. He sure as hell hoped that wasn't the case. Inspecting himself he brushed off the dirt from his clothes and ruffled his hair. He had to look as less suspicious as possible. He looked at his left leg and caught in the sight of torn pants leg. The fence had done more damage than he thought. There was a small tear of where the wire had pierced its way onto his flesh. He opened the slit further and investigated his newfound wound. It was a long slash that was covered in dry blood and dirt. Stupidly his fingers grazed upon the cut and he instantly pulled them back. He grimaced. If he didn't clean it soon it would get infected. His eyes softened and he reached into his pocket. He brought out the money Iruka had given him and turned to look at the store. They probably sold water and bandages there, but was it worth it? He looked back at the empty road and determined that there weren't any buses coming soon. Naruto stood up and walked to the gas station. There was also to consider that the clerk could rat out on him if the police searched for him. Which they probably would and here would be the first place since it was the closest. Naruto opened the door and walked in quietly. The sound of two bells chimed and it alarmed him. He whipped his head back and forth wildly with wide eyes. The store clerk began to chuckle and Naruto turned towards him. He took in the young man's appearance. The store clerk had short brown hair that stopped near his cheeks and laid flatly against his skin in an uncared for fashion, he had dark eyes that drooped tiredly and had dark bags that showed he didn't sleep as much as he should have, and he was dressed in a uniform. He gave Naruto a tired smile and said, "Hello may I help you find something?"

Naruto was taken aback by the stranger's sudden kindness and wound up replying dumbly, "Uhh..." The store clerk laughed again, but the laugh turned into a cough. Naruto raised a brow and the clerk lifted a finger to show that he need a minute. Once his cough had cleared he said apologetically, "I'm sorry about that, I'm kind of sick right now so I'm not in the best shape."

Naruto put his hands in his pockets and walked to the counter. To get a look of the guy's name. He studied his badge that read Gekko Hayate. He nodded and proceeded to ask him, "If you're sick shouldn't you be resting at home?" Hayate sweat dropped and began to explain, "Well you see this is my second job and right now I currently need the money so I can buy a ring and propose to my girlfriend, Yugao, but like I stated I'm flat broke so.." he stopped in mid-sentence when he realized that he was telling his problems to a complete stranger. He coughed awkwardly and asked again, "Do you need any help?"

"Yeah. . . Do you sell any bandages?"

"Bandages? Yeah I think we do...it should be in the third aisle." Naruto nodded and proceeded to finding the bandages. He grabbed the bandage wraps and a water bottle before making his way up to the front. He paid for his items and looked back at Hayate. He smiled, "Well if she really loved you she wouldn't care about the ring as much as the proposal..." with that he left. Hayate watched the blonde haired teen walk back to the bus stop. The kid was right. Yugao wouldn't care about the ring she just wanted to be with him. He pulled out his phone and texted her saying that they should meet tomorrow at her favorite restaurant. Tomorrow he would propose to her with only the ring that his grandmother had given him when she died. He looked back at the blonde boy and couldn't help, but think that the kid was weird. Yet there was something about him that drew you into liking him. Hayate smiled and saw him get on the bus. He wondered idly why the kid was in the middle of nowhere late at night, but it didn't matter. Maybe he would see that guy again and when he did he would thank him for his words.

The sound of the familiar chime broke through his thoughts and he turned to look at the new customer. What he didn't know was that was the last customer he would be having for a long time.

_**~Sakura Haruno~**_

"Lastly I think it would be best if we went with blue and white design instead of the gold and red one..." said a young girl with long black hair and grey eyes. "Are you kidding me? Blue and white don't even match with our school colours!" a boy with dyed red hair and angry brown eyes argued with the girl. The girl narrowed her eyes and stated, "Well neither does Red and gold! You just like those colours, because they're your favorite!"

"Maybe we should just go with the ones we have now?" suggested a much calmer voice. Although the other two unleashed their wrath upon this poor outsider.

Sakura sighed tiredly and rubbed her temples. Why must they always argue in Student Council meetings? Couldn't they agree on something at least once? She closed her eyes and leaned forward on her desk. They had been there for nearly two hours after school when it should have only taken ten minutes. Not being able to handle any of the nonsense any longer, she yelled, "Will all of you just shut up?!" Silence was met with her and she sighed again. She opened her eyes and crossed her arms. She said, "We're sticking with the same colours that we always have and that is final. I better not here anymore complaining or you're all in for it..." her threat hung in the air thickly as they all sweat dropped and some drained of colour. She continued more gently, "Neji-san would you please tell us what's to happen at the dance tomorrow."

Neji nodded and began stating all that was to happen. Sakura tried her best to pay attention, but found that she was still thinking about last night's events. She propped an elbow on the desk and laid her cheek on her palm. Damn Ino, she thought bitterly with narrowed eyes. This was all her fault. She had made herself a complete idiot in front of Sasuke! And now he was probably never going to look at her again. Not like he had much before anyway. Sakura's mind drifted towards last night as it replayed again. Much to her dismay and embarrassment.

_Sasuke-kun! " Ino cried out to the young Uchia. That Uchiha looked up for a brief moment to see who had called his name. Upon realizing who it was he looked back down again and ignored them. Sakura could tell that this was going to end badly. She turned toward her blonde friend and called out to her, "Ino-pig, I don't think we should-" _

_"Come on forehead! Now is your chance!" she whispered excitedly and dragged her towards Sasuke. Sakura began to feel clammy and protested against her friend's wishes. Ino did not pay attention. Like she always did. Sakura sighed inwardly and forced a smile on her face. Maybe Ino was right...this could be her big chance! Maybe after they were done talking he would ask her out? Or want to hang out with her again? And then before she would know it she would be married to Uchiha Sasuke and be having his babies. Sakura felt herself becoming weak kneed at that thought. A dreamy smile spread upon her face and she suddenly felt very giddy. Yosh! She could do this! But one cold look from him drove away all her fantasies and made her realistic again. Who was she kidding why would he want to go out with a big headed girl like her? She wasn't pretty and she was a know-it-all so that made her pretty annoying. Sakura snapped herself out of her insecurities just as she heard Ino starting to talk to the raven haired teen, "Sasuke-kun! I don't think you've met my best friend fore-I mean Sakura-chan before, have you?" _

_His apathetic dark grey eyes turned to meet her green ones. They locked gazes and Sakura could hear her very own heart beat beating loudly. She whispered silently, "Shit." Evidently he heard and the corner of his lips twitched. Was that a good or bad thing? His eyes showed for the briefest second amusement before they hardened and he turned away scowling. Sakura drooped and lost hope. There was no way she could handle another one of his stares and it wasn't, because she liked him. No it was, because he terrified her! His icy completion nearly gave her a heart ache and she swore she had never been so tense in her life! Surely that wasn't love?! But her cheeks were blushing furiously and she couldn't help, but want to experience it again. So maybe it was love? She didn't know and she idly wondered if she ever would. Ino turned towards her and smiled; "Well I'm going to go get our food so stay here, fore...Sakura-chan!" she winked at her playfully and then left. Sakura wanted to scream at her best friend for leaving her with the annoyed Uchiha. Damn her. Sakura sat down and stole a nervous peek at Sasuke. He was still sitting there with a scowl on his handsome face and his arms were crossed. His eyes met hers and she quickly looked down. He raised a brow and asked irritated, "What is it?" _

_"O-oh! I was just wondering something..." Sakura stumbled lamely. Sasuke would have groaned, but he wasn't that type of person. He eyed the pink haired president with cautious eyes and noted that she was extremely uncomfortable in his presence. He wanted to smirk. Good, that's how he wanted it to be. But besides her stiff posture she looked anxious? No, it was more like she was anticipating something and her cheeks were slightly red. From the back of his mind, he recalled a pink haired girl offering him chocolates on Valentine's Day when he was in middle school. She had confessed her love for him and he had turned her down like all the others. Flat and hard rejections were the best way to get rid of fan girls. Or well at least most of them. He concluded that she still liked him, but she had more dignity than to stalk him constantly like her friend had. No, she wanted him to be the one to ask her out and confess some hidden undying love. Plus he could see all of this in her face. He could read her like an empty book. For a calculating genius like him this wasn't hard at all. Sakura smiled politely and asked, "So why are you here?" _

_He didn't make a comment or made it look like he would. He bluntly ignored her and she knew it. A vein throbbed in her head and she was tempted to grab him by the collar to start yelling at him. She could already imagine doing that and with Inner Sakura cheering her on, it was hard to ignore. She closed her eyes and fisted her hands. She tightly pressed her lips together and willed herself not to start calling the Uchiha some very ugly names that should not be mentioned. Just who did he think he was anyway?! Ignoring her like that. Sakura felt more than just annoyed. She was furious. Luckily for her, someone came in just on time. She heard the sound of someone sitting across from her and a gentle voice exclaimed softly, "Oh well I didn't know that you had friends, Sasuke." _

_"She's not my friend, nii-san." Sasuke replied impassively. Sakura sweat dropped. Way to get to the point. Sakura glanced up to see who Sasuke was talking about and met the face of a handsome man. He had chin length black hair that reminded her of the wings of a raven much like Sasuke's, deep dark eyes that sparkled like the midnight sky. She could honestly see the reflection of herself in his eyes. His skin was flawless and a perfect creamy pale. He looked like Sasuke, but his face was more toned and angular. He looked more mature and his eyes showed that he had lived many tough years. Her eyes softened. What could have happened to him to make him that way? And would that mean Sasuke would have dealt with the same thing? After all they were siblings. Sasuke's older brother smiled apologetically at her before scolding Sasuke, "Sasuke! Don't be so blunt with the poor girl, you might have offended her.."_

_Sasuke grunted his reply while Sakura commented, "No! It's alright I'm not-" _

_"I'm sorry about my brother, " Itachi interrupted. Sakura opened her mouth once again to explain that she was not offended. He continued, "I don't know about his manners sometimes, but oh well. Oh? I never got your name miss...?" _

_"Sakura." she responded tiredly. It seemed like these two siblings were polar opposites, "My name is Haruno Sakura." Itachi nodded and smiled pleasantly. But there was something off about his smile she noted dimly, "What a beautiful name, Sakura. That matches your hair colour. Well in case you don't know I'm Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke's older brother." _

_Sakura smiled. He really was a lot nicer than Sasuke. It was amazing to see the difference. Inner Sakura idly commented on how he mentioned her hair colour and name. Ugh. Why did everyone she meets do that? Was it really that astounding that she had been named Sakura, because her hair colour was like that? Or that her hair happened to be naturally light pink? She swore that if he asked or made a comment about it being natural or not; she would push politeness aside and tackle the bastard to the ground. Luckily she would not need to do that for Itachi asked instead, "So I'm assuming you're in my brother's school, what grade are you in?" _

_"Oh! I'm in tenth grade." Sakura replied smoothly with a smile on her face. As long as she was here she would have to keep on smiling. No matter what she could not be her usual self. He nodded and commented that if she and Sasuke were in the same grade how come he had never met her before. Well it could be, because Sasuke hated everyone and she was always shying away in the corners when she was younger. Sure when she hit middle school, she made her feelings obvious for the younger Uchiha, but he had flatly rejected her. Much to her dismay. Sakura's eyes drooped downwards. That was also the time she had disconnected her friendship with Ino over the stupid crush. 'It really was pointless, ' she mused. She should have known better that friends came before guys. Especially when it was such a great friend like Ino that had helped her stand up to her bullies. Sakura didn't like to think about the times she had been made fun of, because of her large forehead. Or when she used to cry under a tree all by herself, because no one wanted to play with her. But then Ino came along and helped her build confidence. She owed it all to Ino and what did she do to repay her? Break off the friendship and spit in her face. Sakura sighed. It was a good thing they were friends again, because she didn't know what she would do without the girl. _

_Before she spaced out even more, Sakura asked, "What about you, Itachi-san? I've never seen you in our school..." Now when she thought about it how come she had never known that Sasuke had an older brother? Did they not go to the same school anymore? But even than she would have seen him when they were younger. Itachi laughed softly and replied, "No, I graduated out of Konoha at an early age. I have a job actually." Sakura's eyebrows lifted. Wow. He didn't seem old enough to already be having a job. He looked so young! Guess that proves that you can't judge a book by its cover. Itachi continued, "I know I may not look that old, but I have been working for a while now." _

_"Oh really? What do you do?" _

_"I work for the Hokage's ANBU division." he replied calmly. Sakura's mouth dropped slightly as she gaped at him. ANBU?! The highest of the military?! Her eyes widened and she stared at him dumbly. How could a man so gentle like him be in one of the highest positions in the military? After noticing her bewildered looks he added, "I'm not the front force...I do their paperwork." _

_Oh that made more sense, she thought. She noticed Sasuke roll her eyes. Was this a habit of his brother to mislead strangers? She sweat dropped. Perhaps he wasn't the gentleman she had originally thought. Instead of saying anything rude she decided to play it cool and say, "Well your parents must be proud..." If only she had known it would have been better to insult them than mention their parents. Itachi's smile dropped and Sasuke's eyes widened. The entire presence shifted darkly. Sasuke stood up and slammed his hand on the table. His bangs covered his eyes, but Sakura could tell he was refraining from showing his emotions. There was a deadly silence that had occurred in the food court as they watched the scene unfold. Sakura feeling confused reached out to him, "Sasuke-kun. . .?" _

_"Shut up!" he yelled angrily. His eyes met hers and Sakura could see true pain in those dark gray eyes. They looked so tormented and hurt that it made her entire expression soften and she frowned. Sakura hesitantly put her hand on his hand and found that it was extremely cold. She drawled on, "What's wrong?" _

_That only made it worse. He drew back his hand and bitterly remarked, "It's not like you would know or care about how it feels like to be alone. . ." with that he stormed away. Sakura stood up and was about to call for him when her voice faded away. She blinked a few times and found it best for her not to chase after Sasuke. She watched his retreated figure disappear from her line of vision and she sighed. She sat down on the chair and ran a hand through her hair. Just when she thought it was going well. Inner Sakura laughed at her choice of wording. 'Going well? You call that well?' Sakura didn't have the effort or energy to reply back. She so ignored her inner voice. Itachi frowned softly and murmured, "Forgive Sasuke, he's still trying to deal with his emotions." _

_Sakura opened her eyes and turned to look at the older Uchiha. From the look of her face he could read it all and so he replied, "Our parents and entire clan were murdered about twelve years ago..." her eyes widened as she tried to comprehend the words he was saying. Murdered?! The entire clan! How could that possibly happen? She pursed her lips and relaxed her eyes. It made sense now. . . On why Sasuke was the way he was. Everyone reacts differently to death. Especially if your entire clan was murdered. 'No wonder why he was so broken, ' she mused, "I'm so sorry.." _

_"Don't be. I've moved on from their deaths the best way I could. The pain will always be there and I will never let go of their memories, but I find it better to think about the happy times than the regrets I have. Sasuke used to live in my shadow so he held some resentment towards our father, he must still be regretting that. Plus I think he was closer to our parents than I was...I hope that someday he would stop holding in all his emotions and let it out. Apathy does no good." he said sadly. Sakura could tell that he was clearly worried about his younger brother. He added quietly, "As you can tell, I do love and care for my brother deeply. I just wish he knew that he wasn't alone." Sakura nodded a little. Trying to see where he was coming from, but she could not. If her parents died she wasn't sure how she would react? Would she be like Itachi and find a way to carry on? Or would she be like Sasuke and hold it all in? _

_She had no idea what to say so all she could do was extend her hand towards Itachi and squeeze his. He gave her a grateful smile and she let go quickly when she heard the sound of Ino's heels approaching. She didn't want to be teased for her sudden act of boldness. Even if the gesture was only meant as a sign of friendship and sympathy. Itachi left shortly afterwards stating that he had to go and find Sasuke. After exchanging numbers and telling her to call anytime, Sakura stared at his card in deep thought. Now that she knew some of Sasuke's past it was starting to fit in. It was like the puzzle pieces were finally being revealed, but it was still as much as a mystery as it had been before. Once Ino arrived she began to complain, "Aww! Where did Sasuke-kun and that other cute guy go? Ooh! Is that his number? Now you got to-" _

"Sakura-san?"

"Hmm?" Sakura hummed out dimly aware of who was talking to her. She blinked a few times before she was met face to face with Rock Lee. She sweat dropped and the colour of her face drained. He was dressed in the school uniform of a white buttoned down shirt with black slack pants. With his shiny black bowl cut hair and massive eyebrows, he beamed at her with large sparkling eyes. Sakura smiled wearily. It wasn't like she didn't like the hyperactive idiot; it's just sometimes he got on her nerves. Plus there was also to consider that he was insanely in love with her. Not like she wasn't flattered, but she felt bad about rejecting him so many times. She would never like him as more than a friend, she just hoped he would find another girl to like and then they could be together. She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, "Hey Lee, what are you still doing in school? Its nearly five."

_'Dear Lord, have I really been here that long?' _ she asked herself. Lee sweat dropped at Sakura's blunt question. She always did get straight to the point, but that was something he loved about her! He focused his attention on her and said, "I just finished my training with Guy-sensei! He says that the more I train the stronger I can become so I can win the kido championship! To the power of youth!" Sakura sweat dropped and nodded absent mindedly. At least he was determined was all she could come up with. Uncrossing her arms she turned her eyes to the sheet of papers that she needed to sign. Already feeling the groan coming on, she suppressed it and started on her task. Lee fidgeted nervously and asked, "Sakura-san?" she turned back to look at him.

"Are you going to the dance?"

Her smile dimmed. So this was what it was about. By the look of his eyes he knew he was going to get rejected. Her eyes softened. Maybe just this once she could-? She stopped in mid thought and mentally shook her head. No, she couldn't give him any hope. She wondered idly what Ino would do in her situation. _'Well Ino would flat out reject him and break his heart in the process. I don't think I can do that to him though so what to do?' _she pressed her lips together and said, "No, I'm not. I have to babysit my cousins." Lie. Sakura was never the best liar, but Lee didn't seem to notice. His face drooped and he nodded sadly. Sakura's heart broke as his entire hopes were crushed. But she couldn't be a pity date. They both deserved much better. So instead she asked, "Are you?"

He paused before shaking his head, "Probably not. Well I have to get going so I'll see you tomorrow." Sakura nodded and turned her attention back on her papers. Hopefully it could distract her for a while.

_**~Naruto Uzumaki~**_

Naruto concluded that he hated buses.

They were annoying. Always constantly stopping, random people could just sit where ever they wanted, and there was no way to entertain him. He hated it. You would think that with the countless hours and days of doing nothing at the facility would help him get used to being bored and it did. Just not on moving vehicles. Oh that was another thing. This bus drove too slowly. At this rate they would never arrive at Konoha. He sweat dropped. At this point he wasn't even sure he cared about arriving to Konoha or not. Multiple times he had considered getting out at random stops and walking back to facility. He wound up reminding himself of Iruka's sacrifice and continued on this miserable journey. Naruto sighed a relief that the girl next to him had left. He had the terrible fate of attracting girls. Well he couldn't help the fact that he was so incredibly good looking. But the girl next to him had been a pain. She had talked to him nonstop about stupid nonsense and asked if he had a girlfriend. On the spur of the moment he had thought of Sakura before scoffing the silly idea. Sakura and him date? He would be lucky if she even remembered him! She took his pause as a no and had continued to try to seduce him. He rolled his eyes. Like that had worked. After she left she gave him her number in hopes of her calling him sometime. Naruto knew that would never happen. Not only was she not his type, but he didn't even have a phone. What was his type though? Girls with long pink hair, white creamy skin, and dazzling mint green eyes. His eyes softened. Sakura. Maybe he would find her in Konoha and-

And do what? Nothing. Naruto's thoughts were interrupted when someone sat down next to him. His blue eyes glanced over to the person next to him. It was a girl. She had long black hair that was darker than the midnight sky and shined brighter than any other colour he had seen, her eyes were also as black as her hair and sparkled light the stars. If he looked hard enough he could see his reflection through her eyes. Her skin was flawless and perfect; her eyelashes were long and curly. Her beauty left him staring at her so bluntly obvious that she noticed. She turned her face towards him and offered him a gentle smile. Her voice poured out as soft and sweet as honey, "Hello there."

Naruro continued to stare. This girl was more beautiful than Sakura! Realizing that she spoke to him he felt like trying out like trying out his new personality. He had to start being nice after all, "Hey" he said back rather awkwardly. Since when did he start sounding so lame? The girl had yet to notice his pause and instead continued the conversation, "So where are you heading off to?"

Naruro blinked, "Konoha...what about you?" he asked the girl who he didn't know the name of. He added quickly, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto by the way, what's your name?"

She smiled pleasantly and replied, "My name is Haku and I'm going to Kirigakure." Naruto's eyes widened and he didn't even bother to hide his shock. Kirigakure?! Why the hell was she going that far? Since his emotions were so easily splayed out before Haku, she answered his unsaid question, "Well my master and I live there."

_'Oh that makes a lot more sense . . .Wait a minute, did she just call him master?!' _Naruto scolded himself and shook his head inwardly. No, this young girl couldn't possibly have that type of master. She just must have meant to say sensei right? Hesitantly Naruto asked, "Er don't you mean sensei?" He idly wondered how personal of a question this was. It's not like you just go asking a bunch of questions to random strangers every day. Haku shook her head. Her black hair swaying slightly as she said calmly, "No, Zabuza-sama is my master." Naruto blinked a few times before it hit him, "Say what?!" he exclaimed rather dumbly. He found it surprisingly easy to play a dumb knuckle head. Maybe in time it would become natural. He hoped so if he didn't want to be caught any time soon. Around him people turned around and glared at him for disrupting the silent bus. He gave them a sheepish smile and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. The faintest of blushes adorned his cheeks.

Haku laughed a little before her face became more solumn, "He took me in when no else did. For that I owe him my life" Naruto couldn't help, but find that wrong. Why did she have to give him her life just because he saved her? Couldn't there be another way to express her gratitude? When he told this to her she became silent. He slapped himself in the forehead. He had gone too personal! All these years of no sane human contact had gotten to him and now he didn't know what to do around other people. He was about to apologize when her voice broke in, "I was born in a small town in Mizu No Kuni that held no importance to the country other than farming. I don't even remember the name of that small town anymore. My family was also a small one as well. My mother was a beautiful woman with much grace and elegance while my father was a hardworking man that was very determined in everything he did. He never liked to give up." a small smile appeared on her face before it faded away, "My parents loved me and were very kind to me. For the first few years of my life, I was a very happy child in a blessed home. Soon enough though fate was about to change that. When I was about five I discovered that I wielded a very special yet _abnormal _power. I was excited to know that I could do that so I showed my mother. She got so mad at me that she struck me and told me to never do it again. Especially not in front of my father. If only we had known that he had secretly watched me."

Her eyes turned towards his before continuing on, "He told authorities and they took my mother and I. After being held in jail for a week it was determined that we should be executed. They killed my mother, but I was able to escape. I left the town and traveled around for many years. It was the winter when I turned seven that Zabuza saved me. He found me and took me in when no one else did. He saved me from my life of misfortune and death. So I swore to him that I would pay him back with my life. He gave me purpose in life so I . . ." her voice trailed on as she paused. Naruto's eyes softened as he realized that she was probably recalling some bitter memories. Perhaps he had been wrong about mankind. He hadn't been the only one to suffer. Haku shook her head and commented, "Never mind. I think you get what I'm trying to tell you."

And strangely Naruto did get what she was saying. But why was she telling him all this? She owed him no explanation. His brows furrowed and he narrowed his eyes. They had just met and were already getting deep. He sweat dropped. Was it like this between everyone? He didn't remember the world being this open before. How long had he been from society anyway? He turned to her and nodded a little. She smiled again and her haunted look disappeared. He felt slightly relieved. He was never good with depressed girls anyway. Naruto cleared his throat and looked around the nearly empty bus, "Where is this Zabuza guy anyway? Don't tell me he made you come all this way by yourself."

"No, actually he's- "

"Haku you're not telling this random kid your sob story, are you?" a gruff voice interrupted. Naruto glanced up and met the face of who he presumed was Zabuza. Zabuza had dark slanted eyes, tanned skin that was darker than his, and dark hair. He had a white bandana attach to his face that covered his nose and mouth. Was he part of a gang? Naruto noted that he was pretty tall and looked very muscular. In general he looked like trouble. He might as well have held up a sign that said, "_If you mess with me, I'll kill you" _ Zabuza's dark eyes turned towards him and they narrowed, "Who's this? What's your name, kid?"

Naruto assumed that Zabuza was trying to intimate him. He wasn't going to let that happen. He met his eyes, "Uzumaki Naruto, I'm guessin' you're Zabuza?" Zabuza studied the blonde teen and grunted a reply. How much did this kid know? His eyes shifted towards Haku who offered a simple smile. It couldn't be that much. Haku was a smart kid. He nodded slightly, "Haku how much did you tell him?" he asked bluntly. He wasn't afraid of being rude from what Naruto could tell. Haku answered calmly, "Just about everything"

Zabuza's eyes widened and his expression darkened. Damn. He tensed a little before a wicked grin spread over his features. Well he had been itching to kill someone for a while now. Zabuza reached into his pocket and fingered his blade. How to get the kid into a secluded area when he was going to Konoha was the question. Well it wasn't a hard task. Before he was about to ask, Haku said quietly, "Don't worry he's _one of us." _

He relaxed, _Ah so that explains why his aura is darker than mine. He must be more fucked than me. _Meanwhile Naruto's head was spinning in confusion. One of them? What the hell did that even mean? He turned his expression towards both of them and furrowed his eyebrows. If he really concentrated he could sense something ominous about them. It was like as if there was this whole different feeling about them? It wasn't physical, but more like supernatural. Just who were they?

"Excuse me sir, but you can't be standing." The bus driver's assistance told Zabuza. Zabuza turned to look at the petite woman that he towered over. He narrowed his eyes and stared at her blankly, "And why the hell not?" he asked. The woman shuddered and gave him a timid smile. She stuttered a few times, "Well it's not s-safe a-and i-if you fall—"

"Fuck off." he muttered darkly.

The girl flinched before leaving. Naruto watched Zabuza roll jis eyes and couldn't help, but think the guy was a jerk. He turned his attention back on Haku and asked, "What did you mean earlier?" Haku raised her eyebrows a little bit as her smile dropped. She sighed a little to herself and wondered how to explain it to him. She closed her eyes briefly, "You detect something about us that's different than others right?"

Naruto nodded before realizing that she had her eyes closed. He replied, "Yeah you have this weird...aura?" Haku opened her eyes and stared at the blonde. So he wasn't as dumb as originally thought. She had to give him credit for that. Haku opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by the bus stopping. She glanced outside through the window and than at the sign on the bus. Was it already time? She turned to Naruto, "Naruto, were in Konoha now."

"We are?!" he exclaimed loudly and looked out the window to see a busy street and tall buildings. They weren't joking when they said Konoha was one of the biggest cities in the country! He stood up and waited for Haku to exit the seat. Once she did he picked up his stuff and stepped out towards the doors. He looked back at Haku, who was already sitting in her seat next to Zabuza, and smiled, "It was nice meeting both of you."

Zabuza ignored him while Haku smiled, "Yes, I hope someday we will meet again?" she ended it more like a question than a statement. He grinned madly, "Ya better believe it!" he turned to leave and went down the steps. He was out the door on the sidewalk ready to walk off when Haku's voice stopped him, "Naruto!"

He turned a little and waited for her to continue. She had opened the window and had her head sticking out. She added softly, "Just to let you know I'm a boy!" Naruto stood there frozen in his tracks. Haku was. . .a boy?! He widened his eyes to the size of saucers and couldn't contain his shock. Haku laughed as the bus began to drive away and he waved at the blonde idiot. Naruto stood there dumbstruck even after the bus was long gone in distance. He could not believe it. He was a boy! How?! He was cuter than Sakura! Naruto's face wrinkled in distaste. _Eww I just called a dude cute, _he thought to himself. In his mind he could hear the demon laughing at him. He narrowed his eyes. He wasn't an idiot. Anyone could have mistaken that feminine looking boy for a girl! He couldn't be the only one! He sighed tiredly and lifted his head up to begin on his journey. _Guess you learn something new everyday, _he mused.

_**a few hours later. . . **_

He was lost. He didn't know where he was supposed to go or where he was supposed to turn. The map Iruka gave him was useless and it seemed like he would never find this "_Kakashi" _guy's house. Konoha was just too big for him. He debated about asking for directions, but his pride out won him. Now he was tired, hungry, cold, and lost. He sounded pitiful. Naruto sighed as he sat currently in a neighborhood's park. He had walkes for hours in what seemed like the right direction. He passed downtown and entered the more residental street area, but was still lost.

He looked at the small convience store in front of him and wondered if he should go in there. He could buy some food, something to drink, and maybe even ask the cashier if he knew how to get to the address. But what if the guy reported him in? Well he supposed that it would be another gamble. Was it worth it though? Naruto sighed again and didn't know what to do. His mind drifted away towards what had happened to him in the past night. Yesterday had been a typical day. Nothing abnormal about it, but as soon as it turned night. His life turned to hell. He had been woken up, forced to leave the place he had stayed since he was young, discover that there was actually someone who loved him, seperate from that one person, get injured, run for his life, meet a boy who looked like a girl and his master who were supposedly like him, and was now lost in Konoha. What a night.

He closed his eyes briefly as the fatigue hit him. It was tiring to run away. The sun was beginning to rise and he hadn't had a wink of sleep since he had been woken up earlier. It was starting to get to him. Maybe he could just sleep on the bench today? But risk the chance of getting caught by the police? No, not after all the problems Iruka went through. Wearily he opened his eyes and yawned. He stretched his arms into the air before getting up. He walked to the mini store and was so distracted in his thoughts that he didn't even notice that he bumped into someone. He blinked a few times when he heard the sound of a female voice saying, "Oww."

Curiously he looked down and saw that a girl around his age was on the ground. He must have knocked her down. He offered her his hand which she accepted and apologized to him even though it hadn't been her fault. Naruto widened his eyes when the sight of long pink hair and mint green eyes was in his refocused vision. It was Sakura and she was looking right at him.

author's comments

Chapter three is done! Sorry about the really long wait! Please forgive me and I hoped this chapter made it up. I feel like I should explain a few things before you get all "wha?" on me.

So the reason that Naruto is changing and showing more of his emotions is due to the fact that he knows that someone loves him now. He feels like since Iruka went through all that trouble of saving him that he should repay him by doing what Iruka wants him to do. He's just not entirely sure on how to express his emotions so he's decided to play the role of a happy-go-lucky idiotic blonde. Is it working? For the most part.

Gekko Hayate made a small appearance in this chapter that will be explained later in the story. But I think you can guess what happened to him. Question is why did it happen?

The interaction between Sakura and the Uchiha siblings is to start explaining what happened to them in their past, but its not finished. That's not even a third of their story! Before you mention it, No Sakura is not ending up with Sasuke or Itachi. Do not even dare to ask me to change that. This is NaruSaku. It's just slow...

Zabuza and Haku. . .Well I love them so I just had to add them into the story! They are actually somewhat imortant roles to this story and what did you think of my remodified tale of Haku's past? The reason I called him a 'she' for most of the narration is because we didn't know he was a girl until stated so we went with Naruto's thoughts! Bonus question: What do you think Haku meant in by _"He's one of us..."? _

Lastly are you just as excited as I am for Naruto and Sakura's interaction? I'll have it up in a month unless I'm really busy, but it will be no later than a month an a half. Tell me what you thought by leaving a review but most of all thank you for reading this story!

Review :)

_-envyofclouds-_


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